


Bad Dog

by DaniJayNel



Series: Bad Dog [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, F/F, Lesbians, curse, supernatural happenings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2014-08-17
Packaged: 2018-02-13 13:27:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 97,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2152461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaniJayNel/pseuds/DaniJayNel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Krista nearly hits a dog with her car during a storm and takes it home, only to find that it's not just a dog, but a person named Ymir seemingly stuck within a curse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is inspired by the song ‘Bad Dog’ by Neon Hitch. Give it a listen. Alright, first and only author’s note aside (hopefully this will be the only A/N), I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I have.

Rain pattered noisily on the overhead windows, plopping against and tapping the glass hard enough to send a peaceful drone of rapid drips through the partially silent room. There were soft murmurs here and there but most remained quiet in favour of focusing and listening to the bespectacled woman speaking strongly with intelligent words and over exaggerated hand movements. The woman, with shoulder length brown hair tied up, walked back and forth as she spoke.

“Now, people, can I hear your opinions?” The woman paused in her pacing and faced the others expectantly, hands clasped together behind her back, waiting. There was no response and first, but the moment the woman raised her hand to choose a victim, someone spoke up.

“Hanji-sensei, are you always this energetic in the afternoon?”

The students all took a collective breath together, not out of shock but mainly to stop the tide of laughter. This was a daily occurrence, causing some students to even roll their eyes and sigh in resignation.

“Hmmm…” Hanji gripped her chin thoughtfully, properly pondering the question before turning back to the asker. “Well, Jean, that isn’t a question of relevance, but I do feel it fair to answer you regardless.” The class shifted and a few students giggled while others chuckled and leaned back in their chairs to watch. “No, I am not always as energetic in the afternoon. In fact, I'm more energetic during the night. I think it has something to do with my obsession and love for all things weird and dark. Today however, it is raining and filling me with wet appreciation.” Some of the gutter heads in the class snickered. “Next time try to stay on topic.” Hanji locked eyes with Jean, unnerving the boy with her piercing gaze. “Understood, Jean?”

He swallowed. “H-hai, sensei!” Marco, sitting faithfully beside Jean, shook his head in pity and gave his friend a comforting pat on the back.

Hanji broke into a cheerful grin and clapped her hands together. “Okay, students! That’s it for today. Don’t forget about your assignments due for Friday. Class dismissed.”

Students broke into soft chatter as they collected their books and stationary and left the class. Hanji Zoe, long-time teacher at Rose University, specializing in journalism, literature and all forms of writing, watched her students leave with a fond smile. Besides the few smart mouths, they were a group of good kids.

“Hanji-sensei?” A soft voice spoke up and Hanji turned and watched her top student, Krista Renz approach and stop beside her desk.

“Ah, Krista! What can I do for you?” Hanji sat down on the corner of her desk and leaned her elbow on her leg crossed over the other, chin resting in her palm.

Krista smiled at her favourite teacher. “Sensei, about the assignment.” Krista began and continued to ask questions on the few things she had wanted to know. As Hanji answered Krista nodded her head and focused intently. When they were done and Krista had taken enough notes Hanji sighed and packed her things, preparing to finally leave. The little blonde had a tendency to keep her later than usual with her queries and concerns with the work. She was by far the best, most dedicated student Hanji had ever had.

“Thank you, sensei. I really appreciate your help. I'm sorry for keeping you late again.”

“Nonsense!” Hanji exclaimed and gave Krista a hearty pat on her back. The blonde coughed at the sudden slap and nearly stumbled forward. “You are the most dedicated student I have ever taught. Keep me as late as you want!” The teacher laughed loudly and rustled Krista’s hair.

The blonde simply sighed as she ran a hand through her hair to return it to some order. She followed Hanji out of the class and waved goodbye. Hanji watched Krista walk off towards the parking lot.

“What a great kid.” Hanji commented to herself and started off for her own car.

Krista ran the earlier conversation with her teacher through her head as she approached her car and then climbed in. Her class had been assigned with creating a fictional story on which to write a report. It had to be something with logic and sense, but could encompass the imagination as long as it had an explanation and origin that made sense. It could be based on real events or events made up. The subject was broadly open for each student to decide on whatever they wanted to ‘report’.

Krista had been worried about the timeline, since she had yet to think of a proper topic. It was so open that there were too many options to choose from. Hanji had assured her that Krista had the determination to finish it within the week. They had also discussed a wide range of topics Krista could use.

Unfortunately Hanji was known for her incredibly weird imagination and came up with several peculiar ideas.

One of them had been an apocalypse based timeline where earth became overrun by giants who were mindless and desired the flesh of humans, causing mankind to build great walls to preserve their population, survive the near end of the world and keep these giants away.

Krista had shivered at that.

With a lot more thought Krista was sure she would come up with something. There had to be something that she would feel inspired enough over to write about.

Krista heaved a worried sigh and manoeuvred her car out of the parking lot and into traffic. The rain had let up to mere drizzling when she had left class but now it was pouring again. The clouds in the sky were dark and angry. Water pelted the streets and cars so hard that it was difficult to see traffic properly

Krista put her window wipers on and hoped the rain would let up soon so that she could get home without that much difficulty. She made sure to stay attentive and watched the road from all angles. She rode slowly and stuck to following the tail lights in front of her.

The rain didn’t seem to let up at all and halfway through her ride home it started pouring down even harder. The car’s automatic window wipers whipped about madly, prompted to move faster due to the heavier pelting of rain. Krista was thankful for modern technology because with the stress of the blurry road and trying to stay in the right lane she wasn’t sure if she would have been able to remove even one hand from the wheel.

The little blonde shivered at the cold and reached out to switch the car heater on. A second after turning it on a sudden tightness gripped her stomach and she sat up straight, eyes snapping back to the road.

Just in time.

Krista gasped as something suddenly bolted out from between the bushes by the side of the road and slid into the line of traffic. Krista slammed down on the breaks and by some miracle managed to stop her car just in time. With the headlights on Krista could partially see what had jumped out in front of her car.

It was a dog, and it looked terrified.

Without a thought Krista jumped out of the car and rushed over to the dog. It was still raining hard so Krista was drenched to the bone from the second she had left the car. Upon reaching the shivering canine the blonde knelt down in front of it and tentatively reached out with a hand. She wasn’t sure if the dog was friendly or not and wanted to take absolute caution.

The dog didn’t flinch or move, it barely blinked as her hand moved closer and eventually soft fingers grazed against the animal’s nose. It blinked and focused on Krista. The blonde sucked in a breath at the intelligence she saw in those eyes and worried that the dog had snapped out of its shock and would snap at her. It didn’t.

Blaring horns sounded behind her from angry drivers held up by her car. Krista swallowed and considered her options. She couldn’t just leave the dog there; it looked so confused and lost.

Mind made up, Krista managed to pick the big dog up and hurried back into her car. She let it down across the backseat and returned to the front, put her car into drive and made the final stretch back to her house. When she finally made it she parked inside of her garage and hopped out of the car.

“It’s alright,” she said soothingly as she picked the dog up once more and carried it inside. “I won’t hurt you.” It was beginning to worry her that the dog had barely reacted to anything since the moment it had frozen in the road. Was it still in shock?

Before taking care of herself Krista rushed around to find a towel for the dog and started a fire in the fireplace. She brought the canine there and sat down beside it, towel in hand.

“Let’s get you all dried up and then I’ll get cleaned up myself before getting us some dinner, alright, uh…” Krista leaned down to check and straightened with a smile, “girl?”

The dog simply sat there, staring quietly into the fire. Krista took that as a good sign and went to work on drying the dog’s soft, brown fur. Now that it was quiet and dry Krista took her time to examine the dog as she dried her.

She was a beautiful husky, white on the underside with brown fur on the top. When drying the dog’s face Krista noted that she had really pretty golden eyes. Her tail was fluffy and just as soft, but it remained still and unmoving.

“I wonder what happened to you girl. What’s gotten you so traumatized?” Krista knew asking wouldn’t get her an answer, but she couldn’t resist. It had been so long since she had had another living creature in her home this time of the day, other than her friends that occasionally came to visit.

“Alright, you’re mostly dry now. Just sit here by the fire to dry properly while I get in the shower. I’ll be quick.” Krista gave the husky a gentle scratch behind the ear and stood up to leave. When she turned around before leaving the room she caught the dog staring at her. It was another unnerving gaze that should never be on an animal, but it was, and the dog was staring straight at her.

Krista pushed her worries to the side and decided that if it had wanted to eat her it would have already. It seemed to have been through a lot to have been so still, especially for an animal. The blonde went into her room, walked into the joint bathroom and stripped in seconds. Unlike her usual self she messily discarded the clothes on the floor as she went and turned the nozzles of the shower on. Once the water was warm enough she removed the elastic from her hair and stepped in.

Krista sighed blissfully when the hot water beat down on her tense shoulders, relaxing the muscles and sending a pleasant shiver through her body. She leaned against the wall and pressed her cheek to the surface, eyes closed as the hardships of the day melted away with the hot water and drained away at her feet.

Before she could get completely lost in the relaxation a sound startled her out of her daze and Krista looked down at the direction of the noise. The dog had found its way into the bathroom and stood in front of the shower, paw pressed flatly against the glass door. Those intense, too intelligent brown eyes bored into Krista’s, and then dipped down and stared at her chest. Krista’s heart startled.

The dog seemed to notice her unease and almost rolled its eyes. Krista was unsure of how the animal was able to show such attitude just with its eyes, but it did, and the dog looked away for a second before returning her eyes to Krista’s, almost pleading.

Maybe she was hungry.

“Alright, I’m getting out!” Krista mumbled to the dog and hurriedly washed her hair and body. She stumbled out of the shower – the dog’s eyes hadn’t left her at all – and clumsily wrapped a towel around her body. Krista tried to ignore the dog’s stare as she shuffled into her room and over to her cupboard.

“Look, dog, I don’t know what your deal is but you have to stop staring at me like that,” Krista admonished without glancing at the husky. “How can a dog even do that?” she asked softly to herself. She tried her best not to look over her shoulder to see if the dog was still staring as she pulled on a pair of panties and a plain white t-shirt. When she turned she was relieved to see the dog staring miserably off to the side.

_How is it looking so miserable? How do I even know that she’s actually feeling that way?_

Krista shook her head and ran a hand through her wet hair. She would sit in front of the fire while she ate to dry it. It was still cold and going to sleep with wet hair would be beyond unpleasant.

“Alright, let’s see what I can give you to eat.” Krista left her room and went into the kitchen. After some searching she came across a bag of dog pellets she had kept from the time she had babysat Sasha’s dogs. That had been an adventure in itself and an experience that had made Krista decide to never get dogs for herself. “This should do.” She retrieved a plastic bowl and poured an appropriate amount of the food in, coupled it with a bowl of water and placed both down beside the island counter.

The brown husky slowly trudged over to the bowls, sniffed at the pellets and sat down with a huff.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Krista questioned. She crouched down and picked the bowl up to bring it under the dog’s mouth. “Eat?”

As if to respond the dog growled softly and knocked the bowl out of Krista’s hand. The blonde sighed in displeasure and shot the dog a glare.

“Seriously? Since when did animals get picky?” She retrieved a broom to sweep the mess up and ignored the dog after she had cleaned and started cooking dinner for herself. It wasn’t much, only rice with some fish she had found in the freezer.

After the cooking was done she plated the food, grabbed a pair of chopsticks and retired to the cushion on the floor in front of the fireplace. The dog watched her go, eyes almost glaring. Krista couldn’t fathom how the dog managed to look so intelligent.

“No food for you. I offered but you stuck your nose up to it. This is the consequence.” Krista told the dog after it had followed her and sat down beside her. The husky released a huff of air and lay down, head resting on its paws. Horrible attitude aside, it looked utterly adorable.

After eating Krista put the dishes in her dishwasher and turned to the dog, still staring at her with those glaring gold eyes. “Because I’m feeling guilty about not giving you food I will let you sleep on my bed. On the foot of my bed.” Krista pointed sternly. “If you stick your nose up to this too I’ll make you sleep outside.” She exited the kitchen and walked to her room, pleased to find the husky following her. She climbed under the covers, waited for the dog to jump up and curl into a ball at the foot of the bed, and then switched her lamp off and snuggled into her soft blanket and pillows.

Her small body relaxed and before she knew it she was fast asleep.

XxX

Krista breathed deeply in her sleep and turned onto her back. She sighed softly in the midst of her dreams and snuggled deeper into her bed. Sudden rattling and cursing brought her back to consciousness, and Krista begrudgingly opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling.

“Goddamnit,” Krista heard someone curse in a whisper from her kitchen and swallowed hard. Her heartbeat sped up in panic. Someone was in her house!

She gingerly climbed out of bed, still half asleep but attempting to properly wake herself, and retrieved a knife she kept hidden in her bedside drawer, in case something such as this happened. She was really small, after all, and could be easily overpowered. Having a weapon nearby eased her mind. Swallowing again to relieve herself of her dry throat – which didn’t work – Krista softly padded out of her room, knife gripped intensely in her trembling hands and heart fluttering in panic. She breathed in short, soft gasps, unable to control her breathing because of her panic but panicking more because of how hard she was breathing. The person was surely going to hear her before they saw her, and then she would be properly doomed.

As she reached the end of the hallway she pressed her body against the wall and closed her eyes for a moment. She had to regain her cool, calm her heart and breathing and clear her mind. Panicking was the worst thing to do in a situation such as this.

“How the fuck does this thing work?” The person muttered again, softly, and then there was a click, a hiss and then a sigh. “Oh. That’s how.”

Krista continued to listen as she remained pressed up against the wall. The person didn’t sound that dangerous, though the deep voice filled with irritation indicated that whoever was in her kitchen was probably in a bad mood.

There was a clatter of metal, the sound of a cupboard closing, and then the hiss of the fridge opening. What the hell was this person doing?

Steeling her nerves, Krista swallowed and then stepped around the corner. She paused and titled her head to the side.

There was a naked person standing in her kitchen, head stuck in the fridge. Krista could see every detail of this person’s backside – which was very toned and quite, well, attractive – which made the girl blush crimson and panic even more.

“The pipsqueak hardly has any food,” the person muttered and stood up straight.

“U-uh… if you d-don’t leave now I’ll c-c-call the police!” Krista shouted suddenly, startling no one but herself. Her hands shook even worse, making the blade pointed forward in her hands tremble uncontrollably. Any idiot could see how damn terrified she was.

The person at her fridge straightened properly in surprise and turned slowly. Krista was relieved to see that her – it was quite clear from the slope of her chest that it was a woman – front was covered by an apron, though everything from her thighs downwards was on full display. It was Krista’s apron after all, and this woman was so damn tall that it barely covered her modestly at all. She seemed to not care at all though, and simply closed the fridge and leaned over the centre island to stare at Krista with an oddly familiar glare.

“Did I wake you, shorty?” she asked harshly, distaste just dripping from her voice.

“Wh-who are you?!” Krista squeaked out, hands still trembling away in front of her.

The woman chuckled. “Don’t you recognise me?” She wiggled her eyebrows and leaned forward on her elbows, waiting. Krista shook her head, confused as hell. “Oh? Well, what if I said ‘woof’, would that jog your memory?” the brunette – Krista had finally realized that the woman had short brown hair with a fringe swept to the side, nearly falling into her eyes – sounded clearly amused, but mostly upset for some strange reason.

“Wh-what?” Krista questioned in utter confusion. Her brain was starting to sizzle. Not only was there a gorgeous naked woman standing in her kitchen, naked, but she was naked and Krista couldn’t ignore the fact that she was naked. There was the apron, but still. Naked. “U-um…”

“Jesus, are you stupid?” The woman shook her head and turned around, showing her bare ass off to Krista as she fiddled around at the stove.

Krista blushed again and looked away. “Who are you?”

“That dog you picked up in the street, the one you almost hit with your car.”

“It’s yours?” Krista wondered how this person had managed to find her or how she had managed to find out that Krista had taken the dog in. She also wondered why the woman had decided to fetch it at 1 in the morning… naked. None of this made sense. “Where is she though?” Knife and panic forgotten, Krista swept her eyes over the room in search of the husky. Surely it would be here if its owner was. Still, this made no sense.

“No. I am the dog, stupid.” The woman ran a hand through her hair and glanced over her shoulder. “Nice to meet you.”

Krista could only utter a squeak of confused shock before her eyes rolled to the back of her head and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

When morning properly rolled around and the sun bathed everything in light Krista stirred and opened her eyes. She registered the familiar wall of her room and sighed in relief, not knowing why.

She took a second to think, to remember, and then everything crashed down on her in a torrent of memories.

_“Hey! Wake up!” A hand stung across her cheek, slapping to wake her._

_Krista blinked and looked up at the annoyed face hovering above her. “The dog.” She muttered softly. “You’re the dog?”_

_The woman rolled her eyes and stood with Krista in her arms. The blonde had been out for the count, much to the mysterious woman’s amusement._

_“Yes, I am. I don’t know how much longer I can stay human so I should probably put you down soon.”_

_Krista felt her head swim and swallowed. This was absurd. There was no way this gorgeous naked woman was the frightened and moody dog she had nearly hit on the road. Stuff like that only happened in books and movies. But, where did this woman come from then?_

_Being the dog would explain the nakedness and the familiar glare, though her eyes were brown instead of the beautiful gold the husky had sported._

_“Where are your gold eyes?”_

_“Gold eyes?” They entered the room and the woman dropped Krista onto the bed. “What the hell are you talking about?”_

_“No, if you are the dog then you should have gold eyes. The dog had pretty golden eyes.”_

_“Oh,” the woman huffed – much like the dog had earlier – and rolled her eyes. “Probably a sick joke on top of the sick joke.” She threw her hands up in the air. “Whatever. You didn’t give me any food and I haven’t eaten since breakfast yesterday. I am fucking hungry, so excuse me.” She turned and left the room, pausing by the door before leaving. “Oh and my name is Ymir, not ‘dog’. Remember that.” She gave Krista a piercing stare and then disappeared into the kitchen._

_Krista stared after her, unblinking. She still didn’t believe any of this. Maybe it was a dream. She rested down on the bed and curled up under her fluffy blanket, eyes slowly closing. Yeah, just a dream. Nothing but a dream._

Coming back to the present, Krista put her hyperventilating on hold to search the room for the husky. She nearly cried in relief when she saw the dog curled up on her bed.

It had just been a dream! A very vivid, weird and partly sexy dream.

Krista climbed out of bed and made her way over to the dog. It was a relief to know that the naked woman had just been a dream but that didn’t stop a sinking feeling from taking over her stomach when looking at the husky.

“You must be hungry,” she said to the canine and rubbed the top of her head. “I’ll give you proper food this time. Come on girl, follow me.” Krista made for the door but stopped. The dog wasn’t following and was simply staring at her with displeasure. Again with the weirdly intelligent looks! “Come here dog, I don’t have all day.”

Its tail swished back and forth and the animal bared her fangs. Krista gasped and wondered what she did to piss the dog off now.

_“Oh and my name is Ymir, not ‘dog’. Remember that.”_

She didn’t believe it had actually happened, but dreams could convey messages sometimes, so Krista took a deep breath and stepped up to the dog again. “Will you please follow me, Ymir?” She was utterly surprised when the dog dipped her head and then jumped down from the bed and trotted out of the room.

“Well, that was strange.” Krista said to herself and followed Ymir into the lounge. The dog took a seat by the fireplace on Krista’s cushion, waiting to be served. Krista giggled softly and made something for her and the animal. The dream still weirded her out but it was somewhat pleasant having someone else to feed other than herself. She had been so lonely lately and visits from her friends hardly helped, because they left, and she was always alone again.

“Here you go, Ymir.” Krista placed two bowls down in front of the lounging dog, one with food and one with water, and was pleased to see the husky actually eat. “I wonder why you don’t eat normal dog food.” Krista commented. Ymir’s ears twitched and she paused in her eating to gaze up at Krista with a look that made the blonde think the dog was telling her the answer was obvious. Ymir stared at her as if she was an idiot, which made Krista swallow nervously and ignore the dog for the rest of the morning as she ate and got ready for class.

It was still a Tuesday and having a dog wasn’t going to stop her from leaving. She only hoped Ymir would behave.

Krista, now dressed and ready for another day, headed for the door with her laptop bag slung over her shoulder. A long whine stopped her in her tracks, though.

“Awww,” Krista crouched down by the miserable dog and gave her a loving hug around the neck. “I’ll be back at 5, Ymir. I have morning classes, work and then afternoon classes. Don’t get up to too much trouble when I'm gone.” She tried to get up and leave but Ymir got her jaws on the sleeve of her shirt and tugged. “What is it?” Ymir growled softly, not in anger but in a way as if to communicate.

Krista sighed and finally pulled free. “I have to go! I know you’ll be lonely but I'm sure the day will go fast. Just hang in there.” She waved quickly and ignored those pleading eyes. This was no time to go all soft, she had to leave.

Krista sighed to herself and made her way to her car. This was going to be a long day.

XxX

It was late afternoon, after Krista’s last class for the day with the weird and wonderful Hanji-sensei and the blonde was sitting in a café with a few of her friends. They had un-expectantly called and invited her out for a bit, and she hadn’t had the heart to say no. It had been some time since the last time they had gathered like this.

“So, we’ve finally decided.” Sasha gushed excitedly. Mikasa took her hand and intertwined their fingers, but made no move to add anything to the announcement.

“About what?” Krista enquired. She took a sip of her milkshake and waited with everyone else.

“Well, Mikasa and I have been thinking and talking about this for the past year. We’ve finally decided to try starting a family.”

Krista blinked. “Like, having a baby?” Sasha nodded and smiled. Mikasa smiled behind her scarf – it had been given to her by Sasha when they had still been in highschool and were simply dating – and accepted the cheers of excitement with a nod.

“That’s wonderful!” Armin commented from where he sat beside Eren. “How will you guys do it?”

“We will use Eren’s sperm and Sasha’s eggs, that way I’ll be biologically related.” Mikasa answered suddenly, surprising them all.

“Huh? What about me now?’ Eren looked up from his intense milkshake foam and finally focused on the conversation. “I heard something about sperm.”

Mikasa gave him a dead stare. She let Sasha’s hand go, leaned over and slapped Eren upside the head.

“Ow, Mikasa! What the hell?”

“You should listen to important news from your sister and her wife, you idiot.”

“What important news?”

“They’re ready to have a baby and they want you to be the donor.” Krista supplied. It was surprisingly nice being here, despite her worry of Ymir back at home. Her friends never changed and their diverse yet compatible personalities made her smile.

"Oh! Well, I don't mind but I'll have to ask Jean first." Eren blushed slightly at the mention of his long-time boyfriend and returned his focus to his milkshake. Everyone around them laughed.

"He has you so whipped." Armin said with a laugh and struggled to choke it down when Eren glared at him.

"I think he has the right to have a say over what I do with my sperm. Besides..." Eren cleared his throat and glanced out of the window. It was raining like yesterday, but a lot lighter. "I... I want to ask him about having a baby too."

Everyone went quiet, blinking. That was so unexpected.

"Are all my friends multiplying?" Krista asked jokingly to relieve the silence. Everyone chuckled.

"Yes, and unless you try dating again you’ll be forever alone." Sasha said with an eyebrow wiggled. She felt Mikasa wrap an arm around her waist and leaned into her with a smile.

"We're all married, besides Eren and his boy because they're both idiots, and you're still incredibly single." Armin stated.

"Oh, Armin, since when are you married?" Krista shot back, partly injured and partly amused.

Armin blushed crimson and looked down at his lap. Everyone watched him with confusion. Taking a breath, Armin raised his hand to show the ring on his finger.

"Oh my God Armin, when were you going to tell us!?" Eren exclaimed and grabbed his friend's hand to inspect the ring. It was silver with three small diamonds imbedded into it.

"I... I was going to but Mikasa and Sasha announced their baby plans, and I guess I didn't want to take the spotlight."

"Speaking of that, we never got an answer from you two." Krista turned to the couple in question, eyebrow raised. Mikasa opened her mouth to respond but was interrupted by Eren.

"Hold up! Wait! I need to know this first." He slammed his hand against the table, garnering the attention from neighbouring tables, and roughly gripped Armin's shoulder. "Who proposed?"

Armin turned pale and frowned. "That's... That's personal."

Eren grinned. He burst into raucous laughter and gave Armin a few hearty pats on the back. "She proposed, didn't she?" When Armin made no move to deny it Eren laughed even louder.

"Stop laughing Eren, you're being mean." Krista chastised and gave him a flick on the forehead. Eren coughed a few times, took a deep breath and then nodded, hand in the air to indicate that he was trying to recover.

"Armin, I'm sorry." Eren wiped a tear from his eye." But that's just too funny."

"Did she really?" Sasha asked with a mischievous smile.

Armin sighed. "Yes, alright? Annie proposed to me last night." He folded his arms across his chest and slumped in his chair, hating the look he was getting from Eren. "It doesn't make me any less of a man, you know. Annie is just really dominating. I honestly don't mind being the more feminine one."

"We of all people shouldn't stick to stereotypes." Krista added, fully on Armin's side. The blonde boy gave her a smile of appreciation.

"You and Annie make a weird couple." Mikasa commented. This made Eren burst into laughter once more. Mikasa kicked Eren under the table, turning his laughter into a roar of pain.

"Ouch!"

"I didn't say that to make you laugh. It wasn't a joke. I'm being serious." She turned her eyes to Armin. "But I think you suite each other perfectly. Ignore my idiot brother, Armin, we're all happy for you."

Armin smiled cheerfully and waved his hand. "Let's change the topic."

"Your sibling rivalry is still so amusing." Krista said with a grin.

Eren and Mikasa looked at each other and then rolled their eyes.

"Okay! Back to us making a baby!" Sasha declared, wanting to tell her friends about the plan. "I know Mikasa is more of the tough one between us, but she wants to carry the baby."

Everyone blinked.

"Sasha wouldn't handle pregnancy well." Mikasa said. "And I really want to experience it."

Krista nodded, thinking that the decision had a lot of logic to it. Sasha already ate like a pregnant woman, and had the strangest cravings. None of them wanted to even imagine the monster Sasha would turn into if she ever became pregnant.

"So, how will you do it? IVF?" Armin questioned, ever the intelligent one.

"Yes." Mikasa answered blankly and left it there. Sasha smiled at her lover.

"We haven't decided where we'll have it done. We literally just decided this on Saturday."

"I'm sure you both will make wonderful parents." Krista stood and gave the happy couple a long hug. "I have to get going. You're having an anniversary party soon, right?"

Mikasa nodded. "It will be our third wedding anniversary."

"You guys are so lucky." Krista sighed. She did like being single but sometimes she felt an ache in her heart, a longing for the love and commitment her friends had. Maybe one day she would be lucky to find someone like that.

"You're going already?" Eren asked, displeased. They had only been there for an hour.

Krista glanced at her watch. "Yeah, I have something important at home. Thanks for the hang out guys, good luck with everything! And stay safe!” she called over her shoulder as she neared the exit of the café.

"You too!" The group called back and watched their small friend leave.

XxX

Krista wiped the water from her face as she unlocked and opened her front door. It had started raining slightly harder and she was soaked yet again. At least the ride home hadn't been as stressful as the day before.

After stepping inside she discarded her shoes at the entrance and entered the lounge.

"Ymir?" Krista called out followed by a whistle. There was no sound and it was eerily silent. "Where are you girl?" She dropped her bag and coat on the dining room table and went in search of the dog. She found her sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"How did you get the TV on?" Krista grabbed the remote and switched the TV off. She sat down next to the grumpy looking Ymir and ran a hand down her back. The dog almost seemed uncomfortable with the touch but remained still.

"Sorry for being late, girl. My friends invited me out for a bit."

Ymir's ears twitched and she huffed, blowing air through her nose, and rested her head down on her front paws. Her tail swished around, but Krista didn't think it was moving out of friendliness. Was the dog mad at her for being late?

"You sure are a weird dog. You act so human." Krista giggled to herself. There was no way that naked woman was actually the dog. No way... It was too impossible.

Ymir lifted her head and gave Krista a level look. She hopped off of the couch, trotted into Krista's room and then returned with a book between her jaws. It was a notebook, and when the dog dropped it on Krista's lap, the blonde noticed some scribbles across the page. She picked the book up and turned it around in an attempt to read the badly drawn scribbles.

"Where did you find this?" Krista tilted her head, looked at the lines of pen from all different angles and then gave up with a sigh. "Whoever did this must be illiterate." Krista commented to herself, not noticing Ymir's lips curl back to show her fangs. Huffing slightly, the husky hopped back up onto the couch and placed a paw against the paper.

"What? I can't read it." Ymir nudged Krista's shoulder with her nose and whimpered. "Okay, let me study it again." Feeling that odd tightness in her stomach again, Krista turned the notebook around once more and squinted. She could make out a few letters, though vaguely.

"In hume" she finally said after an agonizing moment of intense thought and concentration.

Ymir sneezed and nudged Krista again.

"What does 'hume' mean?" Krista scratched her head in cluelessness.

Ymir growled softly and simply fell back onto the couch. She slapped Krista's back with her tail and then closed her eyes. Krista sighed.

"This is just getting weirder." She dropped the pad of paper onto the coffee table and left for the kitchen to make dinner for her and the strange dog.

XxX

Later that night Krista lay in bed, confused and pondering. After dinner the brown husky had continuously bothered her while making the strangest noises. It was like she had been trying to communicate and after a whole hour of completely freaking Krista out the dog growled in frustration and left the room.

The previous night's dream entered her mind again. What if? How could it possibly be true?

But there was no other way to explain that dog's absolutely weird behaviour. It acted like a moody teenager, not a lovable man's best friend. Could this dog just be specially gifted with intelligence or was Krista simply in denial?

Scuffing and soft pattering sounded at her door, and then the handle turned, causing Krista's heart to shoot into her throat. Ymir walked in and pushed the door shut with her shoulder.

Krista breathed a sigh of relief.

Wait, did the dog just open and close the door?

Ymir slowly walked over to the bed and then jumped up onto it. When Krista reached out and touched her fur she realized Ymir was freezing. Not wasting any time Krista lifted the blanket and allowed the dog to crawl under. The poor thing must have been so cold.

"Only because it's cold, alright? This won't become a regular thing." she said while pointing at the dog. The husky blew a breath out of her nose and rested her head against Krista's shoulder. The blonde smiled at the affectionate move and wrapped her arms around the dog's neck.

It definitely wouldn’t be a regular thing. Ymir probably had a family out there worried and searching for her. Krista couldn’t keep her even if she had wanted to and decided to devote herself to finding Ymir’s owners the moment she was free to do so. If only she wasn’t strangely disappointed at the thought.

"Goodnight Ymir." She whispered softly and closed her eyes, barely registering Ymir's intense gold eyes staring up at her face as her breathing evened out and she fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Krista was woken up by the sound of a sudden hiss followed by hot air. She was startled but remained still with her eyes closed. It was possibly a dream again, or something.

But then her pillow shifted and moved, gently, up and down. The surface expanded and then deflated. What the...?

Krista flexed her body and took note of the warmth against it. There was something soft and incredibly warm in her hand, and she gave it a soft squeeze out of curiosity. Something hard poked against her palm, sitting at the top of the slope cupped in her hand. Wait...

The blonde sat up and cracked her eyes open. It was difficult to focus for the first few seconds, but then her vision cleared and she glanced down at her hand.

Words would never be able to fully explain the mini-heart attack and complete panic that shot through Krista's chest at seeing what she had been sleeping on.

It was the naked woman, still naked, looking at her with amused brown eyes.

Krista screamed, loud enough to startle the brunette in her bed, and shifted back until she fell off of the bed. She continued to crawl backwards until her back hit the wall and she had nowhere else to go.

"Y-y-you!" Krista uttered, frightened out of her mind.

"Whoa, shorty, calm down!" The woman got off of the bed and stood towering over Krista.

"Gah! Cover your body!" Krista shouted with a hand over her eyes.

"Oh yeah, shit." The brunette grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her long, nude body. "Anyway, calm down! I tried explaining this to you last night but you didn't believe me so I gave up in even trying."

"W-what?"

"I wasn't joking, you weren't dreaming. I'm the damn dog."

"Impossible." Krista shook her head. "That goes against logic!"

"You're telling me. Look, I don't know shit about why or how I ended up like this, only that I did and you ended up finding me."

“I… I… I…” Krista couldn’t form an intelligent thought. She was in complete shock.

“Look,” the woman crouched down in front of her and offered her hand. “I probably should have introduced myself properly last night. My name is Ymir and I am a human, at least, from midnight until 3 a.m. it seems.”

Krista glanced over at her bedside clock. It glowed a bright 00:12 back at her.

“Th-this can’t be real.” Krista closed her eyes tightly and hid her face against her knees. She counted to ten and then uncovered her face. It didn’t work. Of course it wouldn’t have.

Ymir was still crouched in front of her, hand outstretched and eyes pleading.

“I-I’m Krista,” the blonde said faintly and took Ymir’s much larger hand in her own. “Are you really the dog?”

Ymir nodded. “If you don’t believe me then stay up until 3 and you’ll see me evaporate into that damn dog again. Though I'm not sure if that’s the set time. I haven’t been like this for long.”

“When did it start?” Krista asked, unable to stop herself. She was in part disbelief and part belief. She would wait to see if it was true, with her own eyes.

“Monday morning. I left for work and then poof! Suddenly I’ve got four legs and everything looks way bigger.” Ymir dropped down and crossed her legs. She scoffed softly and bit down on her lip. “This fucking sucks. How the hell does something like this even happen?”

Krista watched her with trepidation. They remained silent like that; Ymir grumbling miserably and Krista trying to calm her heart and level her breathing.

“Can I take a shower?” Ymir asked suddenly, startling Krista out of her bubble of concentration.

“S-sure!”

“I would have taken one anyway but you’re awake so I figured I’d ask.” The brunette shrugged and stood, letting the blanket fall off of her body and pool at her feet. Krista quickly looked away with a blush and fiddled nervously with the edge of her shirt.

“Um, I'm sorry for groping your boob.” Krista said softly, feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment. Ymir laughed loudly and headed for the bathroom. She didn’t even respond before she slammed the door behind her and busied herself with taking a long shower.

Krista sighed, wondered what she had gotten herself into and got up. She went over to her cupboard and rummaged around in the far back to find clothes that were long enough for her guest to wear.

“She probably won’t need them, though…” Krista nibbled on her lower lip. “If she really does turn back into a dog then the clothes are useless. I can’t have her walking around naked though, I won’t be able to handle that.”

Krista remembered that she had an old pair of Reiner’s boxers and hurried to her guest room to retrieve them along with a black tank top. When she had found the items she folded them neatly and placed them on her bed.

“Might as well go and do something productive since I can’t go back to sleep.” Krista tiredly rubbed her face and walked to the lounge, grabbing her bag on the way, dropped down on the couch, and then she pulled her books and notes out as well as her stationary and started thinking.

She only had Wednesday and Thursday left to work on that assignment and so far she still hadn’t even come up with a concept.

20 minutes later Ymir walked into the lounge, dressed in the clothes Krista had left for her, towelling her hair dry. She found Krista curled up in the corner of the couch, notebook full of notes cradled in her lap.

“Work?” she questioned casually and plopped down beside the blonde.

Krista simply nodded, still not comfortable with the brunette in her house, in her lounge, sitting so casually on her couch. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the situation.

“Why didn’t you leave last night,” Krista closed the notebook and looked to Ymir, “When you turned human? Why did you decide to stay in a stranger’s house?”

Ymir sighed. “I have no idea where I am, or else I would have. I also lost my keys and everything when I suddenly turned into a dog.”

“Did you get lost?”

“Yeah.”

“So if you really are the dog, then that’s why you looked so confused when you jumped out into the road.”

Ymir rolled her eyes. “Stop doubting. You’ll see in exactly 2 hours that I'm not some nudist creep who happened to spot a pretty blonde and decided to sneak into your house. I know this situation seems fucked up but I'm not a psycho.” She cradled her head in her hands, feeling a headache coming on. “I would have laughed in the face of someone who told me this would happen. What the fuck did I do to deserve this?”

“Uh….” Krista clenched her hands uneasily and swallowed. “Did you maybe anger someone?”

Ymir snorted. “Ha! Have you not noticed my terrible attitude already? I piss people off as a hobby. Fuck knows how long the list would be if I had to make one of all the people who would love to turn me into a dog.”

Krista sighed. “Could you maybe make a list of ten people you upset the most? If you really are the dog then we need to start somewhere in finding out who did this to you.”

Ymir paused, looked over to Krista and titled her head. “You would help me, a seemingly crazy stranger who strut around your house naked?” Krista nodded. “What do you want in return?” Ymir narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Nothing was ever offered without something being wanted in return. Give and take in equal was like a universal law, otherwise everything broke out into chaos because of the unbalance.

“I don’t want anything. If you need help then I’ll help.”

Ymir stared at her. “I don’t know if I should call you God or call you fucking stupid.” She crossed her one leg over the other, and then her arms in front of her chest. “But I’ll pass on the offer. I can figure this out on my own, thank you very much. I don’t need some short blondie sticking her nose into my business.”

Krista frowned. “Excuse me? I’ve fed you, given you a place to shelter, let you use my shower and I gave clothes to you, how can you say that?”

Ymir laughed and shook her head. “I thought you helped for free, or do you really want something from me?” She chuckled when Krista looked away from her eyes, face flustered and hot. “Thought so.”

“You could at least show some appreciation.” Krista muttered softly and sniffed. She didn’t want to cry because she knew she would appear weak, but she had never been so blatantly insulted before and didn’t really know how to avoid the sting of hurt. She had half a mind to kick Ymir out of her door and let the taller woman deal with the situation on her own like she had said she wanted to, but of course Krista was too soft and made a different decision that would be just as effective.

“Are you going to cry?” Ymir asked, watching Krista’s face morph into many different expressions before it froze in determination and she wiped her tears away. “You’re a real softie, aren’t you, to get hurt just from that?” Ymir asked and waited.

There was no response.

“Did you hear me? Hello! Krista?” Ymir waved her hand in front of Krista’s face but the blonde acted as if she wasn’t even there. “Oh, I see. The silent treatment. You know, I could be a serial killer.” Ymir scooted over until her lips were inches away from Krista’s ear. “I could eat people, or rip people’s faces off and wear them.” She grinned widely when she saw Krista pale and shiver.

Krista quickly got up from the couch and made her way over to the telephone, feeling terrified and worried. She picked the phone up and started dialling a familiar number.

“Hey, I was just kidding.” Ymir hurried to the blonde and spoke in panic. “I don’t kill people, I swear. I just wanted to see if you would react.”

Krista continued to ignore Ymir but hesitated in confirming the call. It was late, after all and calling at this hour was rude.

“Are you seriously going to ignore me like this?” Ymir growled, fully irritated beyond her limit. Sure, the blonde was cute and she hated seeing cute girl’s cry, most times, but now the smaller girl was starting to piss her off. “Listen here you little runt.” Ymir stepped forward, teeth bared, and then paused and looked on with widened eyes. “Oh shit. Not now!”

There was a slow hiss, and then Ymir burst into hot air and seconds later emerged from the steam. As a dog.

Ymir released a howl of frustration making Krista dive down and close her mouth with her hands.

“Shhh! I have neighbours you know.” She whispered fiercely.

_Yeah, whisper like a retard as if everyone can hear you. Dumbass._

Krista felt the voice enter her head, and then she sat down in front of Ymir with wide eyes and stared at her.

“Say something.” She urged, now completely believing everything Ymir had said up until this point. Seeing her turn into a dog was proof enough. Of course, she didn’t have enough time to gap in shock as she had wanted to because of her fear of waking her neighbours. She knew she would go into shock soon, but for the moment she felt a burning curiosity and hopefully her heart was beating in excitement and not in panic.

_Say what? Did you forget I can’t speak as a dog? Jesus, this girl is more stupid than I thought._

“Oh my God…” Krista put a hand to her forehead. “I think you’re speaking into my mind.”

 _What is she going on about now? She looks terrified. I wonder if she’ll piss herself._ Ymir growled softly in amusement and sat down on her backside.

“Hey! I will not piss myself. I'm not that scared.” Krista said angrily, pointing a finger at the dog.

 _Huh?_ Ymir titled her head to the side, confused. _How did she know I thought that?_

“Because for some reason I can hear your thoughts now.” Krista looked straight into Ymir’s eyes as she said this, clearing up any confusion she had about who Krista was talking to.

_Oh shit, you can hear my thoughts?_

“Yeah.”

“I don’t appreciate you calling me a dumbass. If you want me to let you stay here until you figure something out then be nice to me.”

_Who said I wanted to stay, huh?_

“You’re more than welcome to leave. I’ve never wanted a dog anyway.”

Ymir growled deep in her chest, teeth peeking out over her lips.

_I am much more dangerous in dog form, you short shit._

“No, really, Ymir. You obviously don’t like me and this is such a weird situation. If you don’t want to stay here then just leave. Go back to your own house and figure this out on your own. I don’t have time to sit here and take verbal assault from someone I don’t even know.” Krista stood and picked the clothes up from the ground where they had fallen after Ymir’s transition back to an animal.

 _Well I didn’t ask for help from a pathetic little girl. I’ll leave this shithole and find my way back, without your help._ Ymir growled with each word and then roughly stood and bounded over to the door.

Krista frowned and opened the door for her. “Here. Just in case you turn while on the streets. You don’t want to end up naked in public.” She shoved the clothes into Ymir’s mouth, surprising the dog. Ymir hid her surprise well and simply huffed as she turned.

_Whatever._

She said no more as she trotted down the patio steps and exited the gate. She didn’t even spare a glance back as she walked down the street.

Krista sighed and shut the door. Did she seriously just meet a gorgeous woman who was cursed with turning into a dog? It still seemed so unbelievable, but she had seen it with her own eyes. If only she could un-see it.

“I wonder if she’ll be okay.” Krista wondered out loud, unable to stop her soft heart from worrying about the strange person even though she had been so mean. Krista sighed again. “Now what do I do?” She glanced over at the coffee table and noticed the notebook from earlier still resting on its surface. The small blonde went over to it and picked the book up. She ran her eyes over the scribbles, wondering again what had been written, and then it hit her.

“I’m human.” She chuckled. “So that’s what it said. I'm impressed that she managed to write anything as a dog.” She sat down on the couch and grew still.

A person turning into a dog through a curse done by an angry lover, or an old rival. That had a nice ring to it. Maybe… the curse was created by an intricate weave of black magic? Krista grabbed her notes and a pen and hurriedly began scribbling her own notes that consisted of a draft full of ideas concerning a cursed woman who turned into a dog.


	4. Chapter 4

When Friday arrived Krista was exhausted but pleasantly fulfilled. She had managed to properly complete her assignment. It had taken a great deal of research and at some points she had ventured into the dark, scary part of the internet. Krista had been going to sleep past midnight as she worked and researched on her topic. It had been very insightful and Krista had even learnt quite a few things while investigating if such a curse that Ymir seemed to have even existed in mythology or lore. Of course Ymir hadn’t returned and Krista had not seen her at all since they parted. She never expected to see the tall woman again, though she couldn’t shake an irritating feeling of disappointment every time she arrived home and found herself alone, no dog or naked woman in sight.

Krista yawned loudly and tried to hide it behind her book. Damn late nights. She felt exhausted and decided then and there to go home as soon as her afternoon class ended and sleep until she had slept enough. A couple of hours devoted to recovering shouldn’t hurt her working habits much.

“Now, for our last topic! Has anyone heard of a Titan?” Hanji asked loudly, hands clasped behind her back. She rocked back and forth on her heels and quirked an eyebrow. “No? Well, let me explain one of our darkest most properly hidden myths.” The class sighed. Hanji was on a roll again, always obsessed with her Titan theories, and once she started on the topic there was no stopping her unless someone managed to successfully distract her or class ended.

No one seemed to get the distracting part right and each time someone attempted to divert the topic they only intensified Hanji-sensei’s passion. Krista giggled. Hanji was her favourite teacher for a reason.

“I have read up on this! There is this old, dusty book at the library stating that thousands of years ago man nearly went instinct!” Someone rolled their eyes, forgetting to hide it, and Hanji noticed. “I’m serious here! This is the biggest controversy we have ever seen. Why does the government keep this hidden from us? I’ve managed to scrape a decent amount of data together to piece the basic plot together! Surely the government has much more detailed and factual evidence. But why?  Is it a conspiracy?” Hanji started chewing the nail of her thumb, and Krista knew she had to intervene.

“Hanji-sensei!” Krista called out with an arm raised.

“Yes, Krista?” the teacher responded.

“Have you ever heard of the giant Ymir?”

Hanji completely froze in her hurried pacing and slowly turned her face to Krista, eyes wide and pupils dilated. “Oh?” she said. “Do explain further, Krista.”

Krista smiled and nodded at the smiles and nods of appreciation from the others students. She got up from her desk and went over to the front of the class, filling her lungs with air as her heart beat in excitement.

“I was doing some research for my assignment.”

“And did you find something interesting?”

“I did.”

“Do share.” Hanji was almost panting, attention now completely focused on Krista, her Titan rant forgotten.

“In Norse mythology there is this primeval being born of primordial electable poison called Ymir, also known as Aurgelmir, Brimir or Bláinn who are ancestors of all jötnar, which are a mythological race that lived in Jötunheimr, one of the nine worlds of Norse cosmology.” The class had completely silenced, all engrossed in Krista’s clear, angelic voice as she spoke with certainty and intelligence.

“So, Ymir was basically born from venom that dripped from icy rivers Élivágar – also known as Ice Waves – and resided in the grassless void of Ginnungagap.

“Now Ginnungagap, the “mighty gap”, was the vast and primordial void that existed before the creation of the manifest universe. In etymology it can be interpreted as signifying magical and creative power filled space. Back to Ymir now. So, Ymir birthed a male and female from the pits of his arms, gross, I know.” Krista giggled at the few students that cringed.

“And then his legs together begat a six-headed being. The Earth was made of Ymir’s flesh, the ocean his blood, the hills his bones, the trees his hair, his brains the clouds, his skull the heavens and from is eyebrows they made the middle realm where mankind lived.  After Ymir was formed from the elemental drops, so was the Auðumbla – the primeval cow of Norse mythology. In the _Prose Edda_ it says that Ymir was killed by three gods, the brothers Odin, Vili and Vé and further explains that upon Ymir’s death his blood caused an immense flood. Ymir has been linked by scholars to Tuisto, the Proto-Germanic being and an echo of a primordial being reconstructed in Proto-Indo-European mythology.”

Hanji took a deep, shattering breath to calm her racing heart and gave a mouth splitting smile. “Wow, that was amazing. What did you research to come across such a wonderful myth?”

“I was researching the name ‘Ymir’ and I discovered the Norse background. Interesting fact,” Krista raised a finger, facing the class which made some students chuckle. “Ymir also means hermaphrodite.”

“So, what relevance did this have to your assignment?” Hanji-sensei asked, wanting the blonde to speak endlessly with her seemingly bottomless knowledge. It baffled everyone how someone so small could remember so much.

“It had more of a personal relevance to an experience, someone I met, as opposed to my research for the project. I just felt like sharing that tale, and since you love giants so much I assumed you would enjoy the tale.”

Hanji nodded vigorously. “I did! For that you will definitely get extra credit! See that, class? That is how to impress me.”

“Hanji-sensei!” a boy called up from the back and stood at his desk. “Do you know of the Norse goddess Freyja?”

Hanji raised an eyebrow. “I do” She shook her head, eyes swiftly leaving the student to return to Krista. The poor guy deflated and slumped back into his chair. A girl sitting next to him gave his head a pet and chuckled when he slapped it away and glared.

“Krista, you are absolutely amazing. I cannot wait to read your report. Is it finished?” Krista nodded with a smile. “Wonderful!” Hanji turned to the class. “Class is dismissed early today. Enjoy your weekend. Please place your assignments on my desk before leaving. I will not accept any late assignments unless you can convince me that it would be in my best interest to do so!”

The class chorused with a drawn out “hai, Hanji-sensei!” and hurried to give their projects in and leave for the fabulous weekend. Once the last student, excluding Krista, had left, Hanji reached out with both hands. Krista giggled and pulled a folder out of her shoulder bag that contained the typed up report she had worked tirelessly on.

“My assignment, Hanji-sensei.” Krista did a bow as she handed it to Hanji’s waiting hands, who in turn bowed as she received it. Hanji titled backwards and groaned appreciatively just from looking at the heading of the file. She tip toed to her desk, always liking melodrama, and gingerly placed the file on top of the pile of other assignments.

“I will read and grade it the second I get home.” Hanji snickered suspiciously to herself, making Krista smile in amusement as much as worry. They all worried about their teacher. Worried about her mental health, but they loved her all the same.

“Don’t give me too much special treatment.” Krista said, fearing that Hanji would grade her with her obvious favouritism playing a keen part.

“Never! I will dissect and deconstruct this report of yours and put it back together to see if it is worthy enough to get high grades.” Hanji whipped the stack of files off of her desk, wobbled a bit from the weight and consequence of gravity, and then righted her balance and huffed in satisfaction. “If I hate it you will know first thing Monday afternoon!” Hanji stated with her usual cheerful grin and followed Krista out of the class.

“Thank you, Hanji-sensei.” Krista bowed to her teacher, accepted the nod in response since Hanji’s hands were full – Krista offered to help but Hanji had almost snapped at her like a rabid dog, so that was a no – and then turned and found her car.

The clouds had finally let up, relieving the area of the usual downpour. It wasn’t even drizzling, fortunately, but the clouds still loomed angrily above, like they were gloating in getting ready to explode again.

After getting in she turned the heater on and waited a bit for the cold air in her car to warm up. While waiting Krista’s phone went off and she pulled it out of her pocket to read the message.

‘ _Hey! Meet me at the pizza place close to your house? I’ll pay. I miss you, Kriiiiista. Love, Petra.’_

Krista smiled. Well, her plans for the rest of the late afternoon were now completely changed.

 _‘Hai. Be there in 10 minutes. Save a table for us. – Krista.’_ The blonde replied to the message in a blur of fingers to QWERTY keys, and then she started the car and drove off towards the desired location.

Upon arriving Krista parked her car in the nicely available parking spot directly in front of the restaurant and trudged inside with a tired but happy smile. She spotted Petra at the back and made her way over to her blonde cousin.

“Hey Petra.”

“Krista!” Petra stood to hug her equally short family and friend and flashed a warm smile. “How are you? You look exhausted.”

Krista took a seat opposite her and sighed. “I am. I’ve been working on an assignment this week, never had time to sleep. It was worth it though. I think I aced it.”

“Pfft, think? I'm sure you aced it with that brilliant mind of yours.” Krista blushed slightly but thanked Petra for the compliment. “Soooo,” Petra titled her head to the side, eyes partially closed, and smiled. “How’s the love life?”

Krista groaned and thunked her head against the table. “Don’t remind me. I'm so lonely.”

“Aw, honey, I'm sorry. Why don’t you try online dating again?”

Krista snorted rather ungracefully and sat up to rest her head down on her arms instead of resting her cheek against the cold table. “Never trying that again. I found so many weirdoes on there.”

“Hey, some people have found honest love through the internet.”

“That ‘some people’ is obviously not applying to me. I don’t know, I do want someone but I guess I just don’t have the time to look. I'm also hoping that I’ll just bump into that special person and we’ll just click and there will be sparks and romantic background music and then we’ll live happily ever after.”

Petra laughed. “You’ve always been such a dreamer, cousin.”

“I have.” Krista sighed and drew heart patterns on the dark, smooth surface of the table. “That’s why I’ll be forever alone, just like Sasha said.”

“Don’t listen to that potato head, you’ll find someone! And speaking of Sasha, I heard from a friend that Sasha was on the phone arguing about sperm donors or something.”

“Yeah, she and Mikasa have decided to make babies.” Petra quirked an eyebrow. “Through science of course since they can’t just make it themselves, though I'm sure Mikasa would find a way. She’s scary when she’s determined.”

“That’s true. So did you hear about Marco?”

“Marco?”

“Yeah, Jean’s best friend. They both go to the same afternoon class as you.”

Krista nodded in remembrance. “So, what about him?”

“He and Eren got into a fight over Jean. Apparently Marco has been in love with Jean for years even before Eren and Jean met, but he never had the guts to confess until yesterday.”

“Ouch.” Krista flinched, knowing how Eren must have kicked Marco’s ass. Eren was known for his stubborn hard-headedness and his striking ability to perfectly defend and fight for the people he loved. Poor Marco, the guy was a pushover. “He must have walked away with a few broken bones.”

“Actually the worst he suffered was a black eye. Eren got a broken nose and a concussion.”

“What?!” Krista sat up straight in alarm. “How?”

“Jean jumped in and fought Eren off of Marco. If he hadn’t stopped them then someone would have gotten seriously hurt.”

Krista nibbled on her lower lip in thought. The fact that Jean had decided to fight Eren off of Marco instead of the other way around was worrying. Sure, Marco was weaker but Eren was Jean’s boyfriend and should have been his highest priority.  There was definitely a lot of drama going on there.

“So Jean and Eren ended up fighting and Eren is staying over at Mikasa and Sasha.” Petra added.

“Poor Eren.” That was another reason Krista shied away from romantic interaction. She dreaded the complications and drama a relationship brought. She wasn’t very sure if it was worth it.

They rested with the gossip for a bit and traded idle conversation as they ordered, waited for the food and eventually ate. As they reached the end of the meal Petra remembered something she had wanted to tell Krista and waved her hand to get the blonde’s attention.

“Mm?”

“I forgot to mention this earlier, and I want your opinion on it. Apparently there is this dog running loose in the neighbourhood. It’s all bloodied and wounded but it keeps running away whenever someone tries to help it. Do you think you know where the dog is from?”

Krista’s stomach dropped and she suddenly felt sick. “Uh, what breed?”

“Oh! It’s a beautiful brown husky, or so I was told. Another friend said it has these really intelligent gold eyes. Most people get spooked and stay away from the dog.”

Krista’s heart pounded. That had to be Ymir. She hadn’t found her way home? Was she still wondering around the neighbourhood, possibly injured and weak?

“Um, Petra, thank you for dinner and the company. I’ll make sure to invite you out sometime soon to repay you. I just remembered something I have to do, so if you’ll please excuse me.” Krista stood up and gripped the edge of the table to steady her shaking legs.

Why did she feel so panicked all of a sudden? Ymir wasn’t her problem, they had parted ways and she had decided to forget that had ever actually happened. Why did it suddenly feel like the world was about to crumble?

“Are you alright? You look really pale.”

“No, no! I’m fine, just cold.” Krista waved the concern off. She pulled Petra into a long hug and bid her cousin and close friend goodbye before leaving the restaurant and climbing into her car.

She raced home, not knowing why she was in a hurry and not even properly focused enough to realize that she was acting completely out of character. Speeding was something she never did, until now.

Krista came to a screeching halt in front of her garage and tumbled out of the car. With trembling hands she dug into her bag for the house keys as she climbed the porch steps. She found the keys and then she heard a whimper and looked down with a gasp.

Ymir lay on top of her doormat, white and brown fur dyed red with blood and matted with the dried substance. Krista couldn’t see where the injury was because of all of the blood and fur, so she opted to smashing her door open and carrying the husky inside.

“Ymir, what the hell happened to you?”


	5. Chapter 5

Halfway through carrying Ymir inside the brunette suddenly morphed back into human form and slumped against Krista. The small blonde cried out in panic but restored her footing and forced herself to move to the couch. The adrenalin helped her carry the woman that must have been twice her size.

Now on the couch on her back – still naked – Ymir grunted in pain and attempted to move but stopped when a searing pain ripped through her abdomen. Seconds later Ymir went completely still.

Krista felt for a pulse, sighed when she found one and hurried to get a bowl of hot water, a towel, a first aid kit and some clothes. Once she returned she started gently wiping the dried and fresh blood from Ymir's bronze, smooth skin.

While busy with the task Krista barely took notice of Ymir's body other than her injury. Somehow she had gotten pretty torn up around the hip and lower abdomen. She also had a few scrapes and bruises along her arms, so after cleaning and drying, Krista wrapped her injuries with clean bandages and dumped the brown water into the bathroom sink.

"Ouch, for fuck sakes." A familiar grumpy voice broke the depressed silence, startling the blonde.

Krista rushed to Ymir's side and gently pushed the brunette back down onto her back. "Don't move, please. Your wounds aren't deep enough to require stitches but they are bad enough to tear. I just got the bleeding to stop."

"Oh, it's you." Ymir sighed and rested back down. "I didn't ask for your help."

"Then why were you by my front door?"

"I don't remember. How do I know you didn't find me somewhere and just bring me back?"

Krista tilted her head. "If I found you injured of course I would have, but no, I didn’t." She sat down on the floor in front of the couch and placed her hand against Ymir's stomach. "What happened to you?"

Ymir's jaw clenched at the small warm hand on her skin and roughly knocked it away. The movement jostled her wounds, making her suck in a deep breath and wince. "None of your business."

"Come on Ymir. You came here somehow so you must want my help."

"I don't."

"Didn't you find your way back?" Krista questioned. "Don't you have someone to call? Don't you have family that could help you?"

Ymir growled. "I don't, okay? I'm alone. So stop bothering me. As soon as I can walk I'm leaving and this time it will be for good."

Krista sighed. "I can help you, you know. I've been doing a lot of research." Ymir laid back and closed her eyes. Krista put a blanket over her nude form and returned to her seat by the floor. "Your situation gave me an idea for this assignment, which required research and relevant information. I also researched your name." Krista waited for a response but none came, so she continued anyway. "Ymir is a giant in Norse mythology. Your name also means hermaphrodite."

This got a response from the brunette who opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "I don't have a giant penis."

"I know."

"Do you?"

Krista gave Ymir a droll look. "I saw you naked, remember? I think I would have noticed something hanging."

"Oh yeah." Ymir chuckled dryly and returned to her earlier position of eyes closed and body still. "Now leave me alone to sleep."

Krista sighed. She could tell there was no convincing Ymir at the moment; maybe she could talk to her again at midnight. Speaking of that…

"Before I go, I thought you only return to human form at midnight?"

"I do, every midnight, but this is the second time I've changed before then. I don't understand it either. Can I sleep now?" The end of her response was said with annoyance, so Krista sighed, lifted her hands in defeat and left the brunette alone.

She made her way into her room for a shower, had dinner after, checked on Ymir – who had turned back into the husky at some point – and then she finally called it a night and went to sleep.

XxX

A few hours later, just after midnight, Krista's alarm went off and woke her. Since her guest had been injured Krista had set the alarm so that she could check on her and replace the bandages if need be.

Still in the midst of waking, Krista sleepily made her way into the lounge and stopped at the foot of the couch.

The bandages around Ymir's body were either on the floor or loosely wrapped around the wrong areas of her body. Of course that would have happened when Ymir turned during the hours. Also, as expected Ymir was once more in human form. She was sleeping on her stomach with the blanket halfway off of her body and only covering her from the waist down. The bronze slope of her back was on full view to a blushing Krista who hurried to recover the tall woman. While pulling the blanket up Krista noticed that although the bandages were dried with blood and there were a few patches of dried blood on her skin, Ymir no longer had any injuries.

Everything had healed. How interesting.

Feeling curious, Krista dropped the blanket and crouched down beside the couch. She reached out and ran her hand over Ymir’s arm where some of the bad scrapes had been. There really was only blood left. Her skin was smooth and undamaged. Blood was the only evidence of any type of injury. How was this possible?

Well of course Krista had passed over the line of impossibility. Before this she had never believed in the supernatural, but now after seeing the real physical proof right before her eyes, Krista was thinking that it was time to consider that there was more to life than what logic defined. Some things existed that defied explanation, it seemed.

And someone had found a way to defy logic and now Ymir was going through what must have been a terrifying experience.

Krista ran her hand over Ymir’s previously injured hip, thinking about herself in such a situation. How would she have felt or reacted? Would she have panicked or would she have been able to remain calm? It only took a second for Krista to decide that she would have panicked terribly.

Even though Ymir put on a front of acting tough and indifferent, Krista could sense the panic and confusion in her. That is why she still wanted to help despite the insults and bad attitude. Besides, this was as interesting as it was baffling. Krista wanted to write all about this experience, as much as possible. It was more of a personal desire than anything to get credit for, since no one would believe it anyway. Even if Krista recorded a video of Ymir turning, people would assume it was edited and special effects had been used. What was the point then?

But now she had a chance to convince Ymir to stay and to help her. She had a chance to observe and write about what she saw to her heart’s content. Convincing Ymir would be the only difficult part, but Krista was determined to do it.

“Are you trying to cop a feel?” a gruff voice asked, startling Krista enough that she jerked her hand away from Ymir’s hip and fell backwards onto her backside.

“N-no! I’m sorry for touching you like that.” Krista stammered and swallowed. “But I noticed that all of your wounds healed, so I was just checking to see if your skin really was properly healed.”

Ymir raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. “Right.” She sat up unthinkingly, not caring to keep the blanket over her front. “Holy shit you’re right.” Ymir ran her hands over her previously injured body and smirked. “Now this I don’t mind. For once this damn curse is benefitting me!”

Krista observed her nervously. “Uh, would you like something to eat?”

Ymir look at her, brown eyes boring intensely into the blonde’s timid blues. “Sure.” She felt the urge to be snarky or sarcastic, but Ymir had been the one to crawl here in her delirium and Krista had been kind enough to let her stay despite how shitty she had treated her. Ymir still suspected the blonde of wanting something in return, but opted to stay on her best behaviour until she sorted her thoughts out and figured out what the hell she was going to do about everything.

Krista left for the kitchen. A few minutes later Ymir followed in, thankfully clothed in a different pair of boxers and a shirt that Krista had left out for her at some point, and went to sit at the island counter in the centre of the kitchen.

They remained silent as Krista cooked, her back facing Ymir the whole while. Ymir didn’t feel the urge to talk at all and took the silence in with relief. Talking would only annoy her and she would end up saying something insulting to the blonde. Never insult someone who was handling your food, Ymir always believed.

“Here.” Krista finally turned around and placed a few bowls down on the table in front of Ymir. One held rice and another had vegetables. Krista placed another plate down that contained a steak and retrieved a pair of chopsticks from her drawer. She put them down in front of Ymir and sat down on the chair opposite from her.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Ymir asked and Krista shook her head. Ymir shrugged. “Whatever.” She picked the chopsticks up and started on shovelling the rice into her mouth. Poise and politeness had never been her strong suites, especially not now as she ungracefully stuffed her mouth and ignored the blonde watching with wide, riveted eyes.

After finishing everything in short time, Ymir took it upon herself to collect the bowls on top of the plate and took it all to the sink. She dumped it all there and turned around, hands gripping the edge of the counter, and gave Krista a pained look.

“What’s wrong?” Krista asked from where she still sat.

“Um…” Ymir looked away, unable to maintain eye contact anymore and ran a hand through her shaggy brown hair. It had gotten a bit longer than she remembered. Had it grown because of this freak incident or was she just losing touch of her own self?

“Yeah?” Krista pressed.

“Thanks, I guess.” Ymir finally uttered uncomfortably and straightened. “For the food.” She dropped her arms to her sides and shuffled on her feet. “I don’t owe you for it, do I?”

Krista smiled and shook her head. “No, you don’t owe anything.” A thought occurred to her. “Though I would appreciate it if you stayed and let me help you.”

Ymir scoffed and rolled her eyes. “No and don’t ask again. I’ll be gone first thing in the morning.”

Krista’s shoulders dropped and she sighed. “Okay,” she said meekly, heart slightly hurting at this woman’s stubbornness. She could see that Ymir really didn’t have anyone else, which was why she was so unapproachable, so her heart wanted to reach out to her and help. To just be someone who could be there for her, despite them hardly knowing each other at all.

Krista felt small and intimidated under Ymir’s strong and overpowering personality, but she had a feeling that over time, if Ymir let her, she would learn to deal with it and counter it with the strong points of her own.

How she knew this Krista would never quite know, but she just did, so she decided to go with it.

“Look, I thanked you for the meal, so can I go back to sleep without you pestering me anymore?” Ymir spoke up from the kitchen doorway.

When had she moved from her spot at the sink?

“Uh… you don’t want any company?”

“No.”

“But… aren’t you lonely?”

Ymir hesitated slightly, a flash of emotion clouding her eyes for a split second before she covered it up and smirked in humour. But Krista had seen it, and she knew that her odd hope wasn’t ridiculous after all. “I think you are the lonely one here, Krista.” Ymir titled her head to the side, that snarky grin still in place. “You just want to keep me here to keep you from crying alone in your bed before going to sleep, right?”

Krista sighed. “Not really.” Ymir raised an eyebrow. “It’s true that I am lonely but I don’t cry myself to sleep and I’m not keeping you around for something selfish like that.”

Ymir scoffed. “Right, whatever. So can I go back to sleep without expecting you to molest me or try to talk about feelings?”

Krista’s cheeks puffed up in anger and she blushed. “I did not m-molest you! And I won’t!” She looked down and pouted. “But fine, I’ll leave you alone since I’m tired too.” Krista raised her head. “Don’t you want to stay awake while you’re human, though?”

Ymir’s smirk had dropped and now she simply looked bored. “Not really. I’m tired. Sleep seems more appealing. Leave me alone tomorrow too, if I’m still here when you wake.” Ymir didn’t wait for a response and disappeared into the lounge.

Krista sighed softly and headed back to her own room. She really did not want Ymir leaving but the brunette had the right to do what she wanted. If only she could just see that Krista could really help her, but she was so hostile and suspicious.

What had Ymir been subjected to in life to make her this cold towards other people?

XxX

The next morning Krista left early to visit the usual internet café she frequented. Ymir had still been sleeping since Krista had left at 7 a.m. and the blonde was sure she would be gone when she returned. That was the other reason Krista had left so early. She didn’t want to have to watch Ymir leave again, since she felt a great deal of sadness about it. It would hurt worse to let her simply leave, alone and confused, than to just get home to an empty house, though that would probably hurt the same. So really, there was no easy way out of this, but Krista wanted to do some extra researching and decided to leave anyway.

She sat at the back of the café with a cup of coffee and her laptop set up on the table. The blonde typed away on her computer, alternating between different websites and switching between her different open tabs on her browser. There was only one topic she was searching; curses, spells, and human to animal transformation.

“Is everything fine here?” A server asked up after pausing by her table.

“Uh, can I get another one of these? Krista responded, pointing at her now empty cup.

“Of course.” The pretty server offered a friendly smile, eyes lingering a little too long and then she scooped the cup up and left to place the order.

Krista continued clicking away and scrolling. She found a page about Lycanthropy and paused there to read what Wikipedia had to say on the topic.

The little blonde was so engrossed that she didn't even notice the arrival of a fresh cup of coffee. When she eventually tore her eyes away from her screen she noticed the cup and hurried to take a sip.

Krista scrubbed a hand over her face, still feeling tired. She hardly got any rest when her mind was this busy, especially last night. Ymir had plagued her dreams despite her trying to actually sleep this time.

The blonde returned to her avid researching and found a new source of information.

There was a spell one could use on someone, such as a cheating lover, a terrible boss, or a friend who was prone to betraying. Krista bit on her nail as she read through the instructions on how to cast such a spell. It instructed that the caster had to draw a 5 point pentagram within fresh soil at midnight, place either a DNA sample such as hair or saliva in the centre of the pentagram or a possession of the person, and then draw a circle connecting the points while softly whispering the curse you wish to bestow upon your victim.

Krista stopped reading to shiver for a moment and then she exited the page. That curse sounded hella creepy.

“Hard at work again?” Someone gracefully glided into the chair opposite Krista and asked with a cheerful grin.

“Petra!” Krista exclaimed happily and launched herself over the table to wrap her arms tightly around Petra’s neck. The darker blonde laughed in delight and returned the hug with equal enthusiasm.

“Someone is happy to see me.”

“I’m always happy to see you.” Krista responded after retaking her seat and pushed her laptop to the side. It was important to socialize sometimes, and besides, Ymir would probably be gone when she returned home. So what was Krista trying to achieve? Trying to really help, maybe, though it was futile.

“Can I get you something to drink?” The server from earlier appeared upon noticing Krista’s new companion and flashed the light blonde a smile.

Petra raised an eyebrow at their waitress but decided to keep her comments to herself and ordered whatever Krista was drinking, with a donut too. The server nodded with a smile but before she left she looked from Krista to Petra with suspicion.

“Are you two twins? You look awfully alike.” the girl commented lightly. She sounded curious but Petra sensed another motive hidden in there, so she grinned heartily and shook her head.

“No, Krista and I are just cousins.” she answered, giving the pretty waitress Krista’s name. She seemed quite interested, though Krista hadn’t seemed to notice yet. The server sighed in relief, not soft enough to escape Petra’s sharp ears, and disappeared to get Petra’s order done. When she was far enough away Petra leaned forward and regarded Krista with a serious expression.

“The waitress is interested in you.” she said plainly, eyes locked onto Krista’s as she waited for a response that was quick to come.

“What? No way.” Krista laughed it off and shook her head as if it was the most absurd thing she had ever heard.

“Come on you bonehead, just look at her. She’s ogling you.”

Krista sighed and decided to humour Petra. She glanced over at the waitress tending to another table.

She was tall, and quite attractive with tanned skin and short black hair that stopped at her chin. When she glanced over seemingly trying to be sneaky about it, Krista caught her dark green eyes and they stared at each other for a moment before both of them widened their eyes and looked away quickly with their cheeks hot and red.

“See?” Petra nudged Krista’s hand that was resting on the table and grinned. “You should ask for her number.”

Krista bit her lip. Petra had been right. That glance had definitely been full of interest, though for what exactly Krista was unsure. She was sure that she found her very attractive though. The waitress reminded Krista of Ymir. She wasn’t as tall and maybe an inch or two shorter, but she had the same tanned skin tone and strong aura about her presence. Her eyes weren’t brown like Ymir’s though, but she had the same strong jaw and straight nose.

Krista felt a pang in her heart when she realized that she was comparing this woman to Ymir. Was Ymir that attractive to her? Krista suddenly slunk down in her seat and sniffled sadly. She really didn’t want the brunette to leave. It would really suck if she did. But how could she stop her? Ymir was so damn stubborn and proud that she refused help even though she knew that Krista could really help her.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Petra noticed her cousin’s sudden depression and covered her smaller hand with her own. “I didn’t upset you, did I?” The concern in her voice made Krista smile in appreciation.

“No, but I don’t think I'm ready to ask for anyone’s number.” Krista stated, hoping that the waitress wouldn’t try to ask for hers instead. It broke her heart to have to reject people since it had happened a few times during her life after puberty.

“Okay, I’ll leave you on that topic for now. So what were you researching so intensely? You did that tongue thing.”

“What tongue thing?’ Krista sat up straighter and scrunched her eyebrows together.

“When you concentrate really hard your tongue pokes out of the side of your mouth. It’s so damn adorable. You were doing that from the moment I noticed you. So?”

Krista giggled and blushed. She hated that people noticed that weird habit of hers. At least everyone found it adorable. That made it a lot less embarrassing. “I was just doing extra research on a topic I find interesting.”

“That being?”

The waitress returned with Petra’s order. Krista avoided eye contact and instead focused on Petra. “Well I’m doing some searching on human to animal transformations caused by a curse or spell.” After placing everything on the table the waitress bowed respectfully and left, somehow sensing that Krista wouldn’t be interested. The blonde sighed in relief.

“You find the weirdest things to love.” Petra commented. She took a big bite out of the donut, groaned in bliss and then washed it down with a heavenly cup of coffee. She closed her eyes for a moment to appreciate the angels frolicking on her taste buds and allowed a content smile to spread out on her lips. This made Krista giggle uncontrollably.

“What?”

“You still do that food orgasm face.” Krista giggled again and covered her mouth with her hands.

Petra laughed as well and shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t help how wonderful this donut is. Say, what are you doing after this?” Petra munched on the donut some more and sipped on her coffee while staring expectantly at Krista.

“I was just planning on spending a quiet day at home reading a book. I’ve got no assignments to do or anything.”

Petra shoved the last bit of the donut in her mouth and chewed before she swallowed and downed the last of her coffee. “Wonderful! How about a girl’s night?”

Krista considered it for a moment. Besides doing a little more research on what could help Ymir she really had just been planning on being alone at home. Maybe having Petra there would cheer her up after getting home to no Ymir, so the blonde nodded enthusiastically.

“That sounds perfect!”


	6. Chapter 6

Sometime later Krista arrived home and was walking towards her front door. She sighed softly in dread and searched in her shoulder bag for the house keys. Once found she stuck the key in the lock and turned it. The door unlocked with a distinctive clink and Krista pushed the door open.

“Alone like always.” Krista muttered under her breath and shut the door behind her.

_Goddamnit this is so much more difficult without thumbs._

The familiar gruff voice filled Krista’s mind, startling the blonde and making her pulse spike. Could it be?

Krista slowly walked down the passage and turned into the lounge. No one was there, so she turned and headed into her room. The blankets and pillows were strewn across the floor along with Krista’s underwear from her drawer. The blonde didn’t have time to blush as she stepped up to her bathroom and her eyes came to rest on a familiar animal standing in the shower.

_Fucking paws._

“Ymir!” Krista exclaimed, dropped her bag and rushed over to the husky. “You stayed!” She wrapped her arms around Ymir’s neck and buried her face against the rusty brown fur.

 _No, I didn’t stay, I just haven’t left yet._ Ymir grumbled in reply but made no move to get Krista off of her. _Can you turn the shower on for me? I smell like a dog and it’s killing me._

Krista wiped the tears from her face and sat up with a giggle. “Yeah, you do need a bath.” Glaring brown eyes flashed up at her and Krista couldn’t help but smile. She was happier about this than she should have been.

_So?_

“Why don’t you wait until you’re in human form?”

_The smell is overpowering. I think I still have blood all over me. Please, just put the goddamn shower on._

“I’ll bath you then, come with me to the other bathroom.” Krista turned to the door.

_Wait up short stuff, you are not touching my body._

“But how will you wash yourself?”

_I’ll figure it out._

Krista looked down at Ymir and gave her two thumbs up, wiggling them with a tiny grin. Ymir rolled her eyes and trotted out of the bathroom.

_Fine, but if you start molesting me I will bite your face off._

“Don’t worry, I’m not into beastuality.”

_I worry that you even know what that is._

Krista giggled. She couldn’t help it. Though Ymir was being her usual snarky self the blonde was overjoyed and nothing could dampen her spirits.

They both entered the bathroom that sat beside Krista’s room and then the blonde started by filling the tub with water and making sure she had shampoo and enough towels.

“Okay Ymir, hop in.” Krista waved a hand towards the bathtub and waited for the husky to jump in. Ymir sat there for a moment, contemplating her options, and then omitted a canine sigh and climbed into the bath while glaring as evilly as she could at the blonde.

_No sexual harassment._

“Do I really look like a pervert?” Krista asked with furrowed brows.

 _It’s always the ‘innocent’ ones you have to watch out for._ Ymir sat down in the water and lifted her chin as if she was royalty and Krista her servant. Maybe if she imagined that it was that for a moment she would be able to get through this feeling less weird.

“Just sit there and be good and this will be over before you know it.”

Ymir snorted in reply and closed her eyes.

Krista started by wetting Ymir’s fur with the warm water, and then she squirted a healthy amount of shampoo into her palm and started rubbing it into Ymir’s thick coat. The brunette had been right, there was still dried blood clotted in between her hair. The water gained little clouds of red when drops fell off of Ymir’s fur.

Krista relaxed her tense muscles and smiled contentedly as she massaged and washed Ymir’s body. It was really awkward at first because Krista knew that this dog she was touching also happened to be a really tall woman. It was kind of flustering her, the mental images she was unconsciously creating in her mind.

Ymir wasn’t having an easier time of it. She kept feeling like Krista was caressing her human body and not just her dog body. It felt strange and Ymir was grateful for the hair on her face because she knew she was blushing. Could dogs even blush? Well, she wasn’t actually a dog so it didn’t matter.  The brunette just wanted this over with so she could go and sit in a corner and feel sorry for herself like she had been doing since this thing started.

There was nothing she could think of to cure this situation, no matter how hard she had thought about it. Having paws didn’t exactly help in her internet searching so that hadn’t even been an option. Ymir sighed.

_Are you done yet?_

“Almost.” Krista grabbed the bucket she had used earlier and poured clean water from the tap over Ymir to get the shampoo out. When the brunette’s fur was shampoo free, Krista pulled the plug and grabbed a towel she had set beside the bath. “You can get out now.”

_I don’t need a towel._

“It’s cold, I should dry you off in case you get sick.”

_The bath was enough. I’ll dry naturally._

“Ymir, stop being so stubborn.” Krista attempted to cover Ymir with the towel but the husky growled and dashed out of the room. “Ymir! Stop resisting!” Krista chased after her into the lounge and found her standing by the fire place, teeth bared.

_Make a fire and I’ll sit here to dry._

“Sure! Just let me dry you off first. You’re getting water all over my floor.”

Ymir growled, low and long. _Come near me and I will bite you._

Krista rolled her eyes. “Right.” She really didn’t believe any of the threats the brunette had made. Sure, she acted all tough but she wouldn’t actually attack or anything. The blonde advanced forward and she and Ymir started circling around each other.

“Hey Krista, the door was –” Petra entered the lounge and paused at the entrance.

The sound of her voice had distracted Ymir, whose ears perked up and she turned her attention to the newcomer. Krista took this advantage and dove into the air, tackling Ymir and wrapping the towel around her.

 _Damnit! Why are short people so fast?_ Ymir grumbled and whimpered to get Petra’s attention as Krista quickly towelled her dry until she was only just damp. _Who is the pretty blonde? Short blondes are totally my type._ Ymir commented to herself, forgetting that Krista could hear her thoughts. Ymir tilted her head. _She has a nice ass too._

Krista slapped Ymir with the towel and sent her a glare. She was blushing intensely too, partly from now knowing she was Ymir’s type and also because she was checking Petra out. She wasn’t very sure if it was her protectiveness that made her upset or if she was jealous. Krista decided to go with the protectiveness. 

“Hey Petra! Excuse me for a bit, I just need to put this towel in the wash basket and clean the floor.” Krista left the room to do as she had said.

Petra just raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know she got a dog.” she commented softly to herself and walked slowly towards the husky watching her with intense gold eyes. Wait a minute… Petra paused. Intelligent gold eyes. Brown fur. Husky. This couldn’t be? “Hey there.” Petra sat down on the couch and watched as Ymir walked over to her, ears folded against her head. She uttered a soft whine and Petra smiled.

 _Time to use my charm._ Ymir acted as cute as possible.

When Krista returned she found Ymir sitting at Petra’s feet, looking up with rapt attention. It only took a second for her to realize that Ymir was staring up Petra’s skirt. She felt a vein in her temple throb.

“Petra, come here please.” Krista called and headed into the kitchen.

 _Aww, there goes my view._ Ymir thought with an inner smirk and watched Petra disappear into the kitchen.

“Is that the dog I mentioned? Why didn’t you tell me?” Petra asked.

Krista sighed and nibbled on her lower lip. Could she tell her?” “Well, you see…” Krista looked into Petra’s curious eyes and decided that she couldn’t. No one would believe her and it wasn’t her right to tell Ymir’s secrets, not even to her cousin. “Yeah, I found her.” She ended with a cheerful smile.

“Never thought you would actually get a dog.”

Ymir entered and brushed against Petra’s legs and then she walked over to the fridge and paced a paw against it, staring right up into Krista’s eyes.

“It’s only temporary though, until… until I find her owners.” Krista said and ignored Ymir’s eye roll. Luckily Petra hadn’t noticed, but then she looked over and saw Ymir with her paw against the fridge.

“I think she’s hungry.” the older woman commented. “That’s some freaky intelligence there. Even this dog’s gaze is intense. I’ve never seen this before.”

Ymir’s tail swished back and forth in annoyance. _The other midget is right, I'm hungry. Could you be so kind as to feed me, oh dutiful master?_

Krista bit down on her tongue to keep from retorting back at Ymir’s sarcasm. If she did Petra would send her to a mental hospital. Okay, maybe not but she would look damn weird being sarcastic to a dog that appeared to just be watching. Krista sighed.

“Fine, fine. Petra, do you want something too?”

“Sure.”

XxX

They spent the rest of the day chatting and watching movies. As night fell Krista grew increasingly restless. She was scared that Ymir would suddenly turn, and since the husky was sprawled out across Petra’s lap, that wouldn’t end well. Just thinking about what would happen if Ymir did turn and Petra ended up with a sexy naked person on her lap made Krista want to giggle and panic at the same time.

Ymir wasn’t being very clean with her thoughts either, aggravating Krista further. The brunette was being sickeningly sweet and Petra was completely charmed.

Krista wasn’t sure, again, why she was so bothered, and she tried to ignore it as best she could. Luckily when it had gotten much later Petra stood after ushering Ymir off of her lap and stretched with a tired yawn.

“I think it’s time to hit the sack.” she said and yawned again. “Night, ‘cuz.”

Krista bid her goodnight and watched her cousin disappear into the guest room. The moment she was gone Krista snapped her attention to Ymir and frowned. “Stop being such a pervert. Leave Petra alone,” she hissed softly.

Ymir raised a furry eyebrow and attempted a chuckle as best she could. _Jealous, are we?_

Krista’s cheeks puffed up and reddened. “I’m not j-jealous!” she exclaimed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m just upset that an animal has been flirting with my cousin for the entire day.”

_I’m not an animal. I'm a human stuck in a dog form. You are making it increasingly hard not to bite you._

“You wouldn’t bite me.”

_I would._

“Prove it.”

They stared off for a long moment, and then Ymir looked to the side and hopped of the couch. _You probably taste bad._ She said simply and headed into Krista’s bedroom. The blonde followed.

“Where are you going?”

_To bed, I’m tired._

“On my bed?”  Ymir had hopped up onto Krista’s bed and turned in a circle to situate herself at the right side of the bed. She stared at Krista with those intense eyes and flicked her tail.

_You have a guest here, remember? Imagine her surprise if she wakes up in the middle of the night for a glass of water or something and there is this naked goddess on your couch._

Krista’s face flushed at the mental image. “R-right. You have a good point. But can’t you sleep on the floor?”

Ymir glared. _I would prefer not to sleep on the floor. With this dog body it’s fine but I'm sure it will hurt when I turn._

Krista sighed, feeling bad for making the suggestion. “Right, sorry. Okay, you can sleep on my bed but do not move over to my side!” the blonde warned and only looked away from Ymir’s eyes when the husky nodded her head in understanding.

Krista grabbed her shirt and boxers from her cupboard and went to change in the bathroom. There was no way she would undress in front of that perverted Ymir. Though the thought of doing so made Krista swallow and blush slightly.

Ymir rested her head on her paws and stared at the closed bathroom door. She was disappointed that Krista wouldn’t change in front of her, though she probably would have been surprised if she had. At least she had seen the blonde completely naked before. That had been a memorable moment, but memories could never compare to the real thing.

Ymir sighed in her mind. _I really need to get laid. I'm even disturbing myself_.

Krista finished up and walked back into the bedroom, pretending like she hadn’t just heard that thought from Ymir. Her red cheeks gave away that she had, though.

“Goodnight Ymir.” Krista said curtly and slipped under the blanket. She rested comfortably and snuggled into a ball, head resting against her pillow.

Ymir stood up and glanced over at Krista’s form. _She is so small._ Ymir thought, forgetting once more that Krista could still hear her thoughts. _It’s kind of cute…_ The husky used her nose to move the blanket enough so that she could climb under and then she curled into a ball as well and rested her head against the pillow.

Krista lay still with a hand over her face, hoping to calm or at least hide the blazing scarlet of her cheeks. She thinks I’m cute, Krista thought. Her heart fluttered slightly and the blonde furrowed her brows, unsure of why this made her feel so strange.

Krista simply shrugged it off and closed her eyes to join the others in sleep.

XxX

Krista woke just after midnight. She sensed a missing warmth and forced herself out of her unconsciousness to investigate what had disappeared from her bed. When she finally opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them she noticed that the space where Ymir had occupied was empty, and her stomach dropped like a stone.

Had she left when Krista was asleep? Was she just waiting for everyone to go to sleep before sneaking out? Why would she leave? Krista had been so happy that she had stayed and had still been prepared to convince her to help. But she left!

Krista jumped out of bed, her mind running on assumptions and fears, and stumbled into the lounge. Everything was dark and quiet as it should be, but then there was a soft hum and Krista’s eyes widened.

It was soft and surprisingly melodious.

Krista followed the sound into the kitchen and paused at the doorway, staring with a blush at Ymir standing by the fridge, one arm draped across the top of it, the other at the door as she gripped the handle. The luminous yellow light spilled out across Ymir’s naked body, highlighting and accentuating every tight muscle and toned curve.

Alright, so Ymir hadn’t left. In fact, she had just gotten up to empty the fridge again. This is where Krista always seemed to find Ymir at this time. In her kitchen, looking for or cooking food. The relief that flooded through Krista’s system was almost as shameful as the heat she was feeling looking at Ymir’s bare behind.

“Uh…” Krista cleared her throat, getting Ymir’s attention.

“Oh, it’s the midget. Hey.” Ymir turned to give her a look, smirked at how flushed she was and how it was noticeable even in the shallow light, and turned back to the contents of the fridge. “Since you’re up, make something for me to eat.” Ymir shut the fridge door and leaned against it. She lifted her leg and rested her foot against the fridge to obscure the area between her legs and crossed her arms over her breasts, successfully concealing her intimate areas from Krista’s view. Ymir enjoyed seeing her so flustered but felt slightly bad. She didn’t want the blonde to pass out or anything, and she was quite hungry so pissing Krista off now was a bad idea.

“S-sure, what do you want?” Krista stuttered in reply, still not looking back at Ymir’s form. Her heart was pounding and she had butterflies in her stomach. What were these strange feelings and why was Ymir the cause? “C-could you get some clothes on?”

“Meat. I’m craving meat. Nothing else. The meatiest meat you have.” Ymir answered and reached over to grab the shirt and boxers she had carried with her to the kitchen in case this happened and then slipped them on.

“Well I don’t know how meaty steak can get, but I’ve got a big piece.”

Ymir nearly started drooling. As of late she had been getting incredible cravings for pure meat, which was why she always had her head stuck in the fridge when she could.

The brunette took a seat at the island counter and laid down on her arms to watch Krista switch the kitchen light on and get to work on the food for her. She noted that Krista wasn’t making anything for herself and felt slightly uncomfortably guilty.

Guilty? Ymir never felt guilty, so why now? Maybe because she was taking advantage of Krista when all the smaller girl had done was offer her kindness and help.

Ymir grumbled softly to herself and considered that maybe accepting Krista’s offer to help wouldn’t be so bad. “So, you said you did some research on this stupid curse I'm under?” Ymir asked nonchalantly, eyes focused on the surface of the table.

Krista paused at the stove and glanced over at Ymir in surprise. Did this mean…? “Yeah, I did. I found a lot of useful information.” Krista answered eagerly. She turned back to the sizzling meat with a grin and felt her heart soar. This was it! Ymir was possibly going to accept her help. There was no other reason for her to ask.

“Find the cure yet?”

Krista giggled. “Ymir it’s a curse, not a disease.” The brunette just snorted in response, uncaring of her mistake. “And I did find some clues. What I think is that you must have upset someone, and that someone must have put this curse on you.”

“How?”

Krista finished at the stove and carried the plate over to Ymir. “Well there’s one method that requires a drawn pentagram in the soil at midnight.”

Ymir cringed. “That shit is creepy.” Krista nodded enthusiastically in agreement. “So you think that’s it?”

The blonde shrugged. “It could be. I mean, it’s a start. So, can I have a list of people you’ve upset?”

Ymir chuckled humourlessly and glanced over at Krista. “You mean a list of the entire population?”

“You can’t be that bad.”

Ymir shrugged and started in on the steak. “I’m not very pleasant, as you’ve seen.”

“Alright,” Krista put a finger to her chin in thought. “We need to start somewhere. What type of people would want to get revenge? Oh!” Krista put her hands on the table and leaned over towards Ymir. The brunette raised an eyebrow and leaned back in her chair, creating the distance that Krista had shortened. “Lovers!”

Ymir’s eyebrow shot higher. “Lovers?”

“Yes! Someone you’ve, uh,” Krista eyed Ymir for a second, “dated? could have been really upset when you dumped them!”

“I don’t date. I just fuck around.” Krista deflated. “But I did have a few crazies who stalked me for a while after. One of them even pinned their underwear to my front door in a heart shape.” Ymir focused back on her steak.

“That doesn’t surprise me, actually.” Krista was itching to ask if it had been a girl or a guy but Ymir was smartly avoiding the use of words that would give the gender away. “So… can you remember who these people are?”

“I can make a list.” Ymir shoved the last of the steak in her mouth and then pushed Krista back with a finger to her forehead. “I need my space, midget.”

“Don’t call me a midget. I’m not _that_ short.” Krista stated with puffed up cheeks.

“Yes you are. If we walked in town together people would probably think you’re my daughter.”

“Ymir! Stop it!”

Ymir stood up and went over to Krista, and grinned down at her. Even sitting on the chair Krista just barely made it to her shoulders. “See?”

“Jerk!” Krista jumped out of her chair and head-butted Ymir, surprising the brunette enough to make her eyes widen. She wasn’t surprised enough to stumble, but she did catch Krista as the girl collided with her chest.

“Oh you will regret that.” Ymir growled, eye twitching and jaw tight. Her forehead throbbed and it would probably bruise.

“Serves you right for calling me a midget.” Krista folded her arms, not noticing that she was still being held up in Ymir’s arms, feet not even touching the floor.

“Uh… Krista?” The confused voice came from the kitchen door and both Ymir and Krista froze. Petra. Crap. “Who is your… friend?”

“Petra!” Krista shoved Ymir away from her and the brunette rolled her eyes but stood back to let Krista take care of coming up with something. She was still upset about the head-butt.

“Who…?” Petra glanced between Krista and Ymir, eyes lingering on the brunette’s sparsely clad body. She was probably wondering what a half-naked woman that she did not know was doing embracing her cousin in the kitchen at one in the morning.

“Oh? Her?” Krista made a show of noticing Ymir and looked surprised. Ymir nearly face-palmed herself but made herself act bored and leave everything to the panicking blonde. “This is my… uh… friend! She’s a new neighbour and uh, she… she came to say hi.”

Petra scrunched her eyebrows up in absolute confusion. “At one in the morning?”

“Yes! Uh, you see, we’re kind of close! Like best friends close!”

Petra could immediately sense the terrible acting and horribly presented lies, but she decided to go along with it anyway. “And she is in boxers why…?”

“She’s a nudist!” Krista squeaked out. She didn’t even dare look over at Ymir who was now glaring at her. She could just feel those piercing brown eyes attempting to burn holes into the back of her head.  “And, I gave her these clothes to wear. Be glad she’s wearing this at all.” Krista started laughing nervously and rubbed the back of her head.

Ymir and Petra shared a glance and Ymir instantly knew that she wasn’t even close to convinced. Good, because if she was then she was an idiot.

“Oh look at the time. Ymir, it was nice hugging and all…” Krista started pulling Ymir over to the front door and shoved her outside before the brunette had time to respond.

“Krista, what the hell?” Ymir hissed softly, eyes quickly darting to the suspicious cousin standing in the hallway and then back to the blonde.

“Just stay out here until I get Petra to go back to bed.” Krista whispered back. “See you tomorrow, Ymir! Good luck with the kids!” Krista said loudly, laughing.

“Kids? Krista what the fuck –” Krista quickly closed the door to cut the rest of Ymir’s loud protest off.

“She didn’t seem too pleased.” Petra commented.

“Well, uh, she’s on her period and all and uh… she… she’s just moody all the time!” Krista’s heart was absolutely pounding and she just wanted to cry. Not even she was stupid enough to think that she was convincing anyone.

“Mm, right. Now let’s go and sit down so you can explain to me who that sexy woman is and why you were keeping her a secret.” Petra grabbed Krista’s hands and pulled the reluctant blonde into the lounge where she pushed her down onto the couch and sat beside her. “Spill it.”

“There is nothing to spill.” Krista responded, hands balled into tight fists on her lap.

“Come on, you know I don’t believe that story. Is she a girlfriend?” Petra’s eyes widened. “Or a secret fling? Come on! Talk to me, Krista.”

Krista sighed, cheeks red. Ymir as her girlfriend? The thought made her shudder. Ymir was so damn difficult that she probably didn’t function well in a relationship at all. Beside, Krista probably didn’t even have a chance, even if she had wanted one.

“Alright! Her name is Ymir but she is not my girlfriend or a fling.”

“Then why was she wearing one of the many boxers Reiner left here? And that shirt she was wearing is the one Eren gave to you when you’d stained yours in town that one day.” Petra pointed out. “You both looked pretty intimate there.”

Krista huffed. “I’m not going to say anything. Petra, just drop it. I wish I could tell you but I can’t. Please leave it for now, please? Ymir and I are nothing more than friends, I swear.” She was starting to get a headache. Krista sighed heavily and pressed her fists to her temples.

Petra noticed Krista’s distress and sighed to herself. “Okay, fine. But the moment you are able to tell me who this Ymir is and why she was here, please do. I’m going back to bed since I only got up to pee. I still need to pee though. Night, Krista.” Petra got up and left the room, eyebrows pulled together in frustration and a frown on her lips. Why was Krista so reluctant to tell her? But she did respect her cousin so she would leave it for now. Only for now.

Krista waited ten minutes after Petra disappeared back into the guest room before she rushed over and threw the front door open. “Ymir, I am SO sorry.” She tumbled out of the door and looked around the front patio for the brunette.

Ymir was standing by the railing, leaning on it and staring up at the sky. It was still covered over with dark clouds, hiding all of the stars that would have been pretty at this hour if they could see it.

“You suck at lying.” Ymir finally said after letting Krista sweat enough. “If this was a life or death situation, we would have been dead right now.”

Krista walked up to Ymir and stopped beside her. “I’m sorry. I know that was terrible, and Petra didn’t believe any of it. She did back off when I asked her to, though.”

“Good.” Ymir still looked up at the sky. “I don’t think I want anyone else knowing about this yet. Or ever.” She finally looked down at the blonde. “I’ll write that list down tonight and then tomorrow we can start the interrogation.”

“Interrogation?”

Ymir raised an annoyed eyebrow. “Were you just going to ask the names if they were pissed off enough at me? Idiot. We have to actually ask these people if they did anything.”

Krista blushed slightly but ignored the insult. “Right, sorry. I’m tired and all, so…”

“Go to bed, now. We’ll talk about this tomorrow.” Ymir grabbed the front of Krista’s shirt and pulled her into the house. Krista squeaked in surprise and flailed around as the tall brunette dragged her all the way to her room and dumped her on the bed. “I’ll come to bed when I'm back in dog form.” Ymir didn’t spare a glance and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

She went into the living room and found Krista’s bag where she pulled a pad of paper and a pen out.

“Okay, where do I start?”


	7. Chapter 7

When morning came Petra and Krista shared an awkward breakfast. Petra had been itching to enquire about last night’s incident but couldn’t, so she ended up staying silent and focusing too hard on the food. Krista did the same, lost in her own thoughts of the previous night.

She felt like she had finally gotten Ymir to see that she could help, even just a little. And the brunette was maybe even learning to trust her. It couldn’t happen that soon though, Krista knew this, and it would take a while for Ymir to eventually learn to trust her and to open up to her.

Krista already trusted Ymir, which struck the blonde as odd considering how they didn’t really know each other yet and Ymir had shown nothing but hostility. She still felt that way though.

Eventually breakfast ended and Petra had to leave. They said goodbye with a long hug, shared an awkward smile and then parted. The moment the door was closed and they were alone, Krista turned to Ymir standing patiently beside her and smiled.

“The list?”

_On your coffee table._

Krista found the list where Ymir had said it would be and squinted at the handwriting. “Are these names? I can’t read your handwriting at all.”

Ymir sighed and jumped up beside Krista on the couch to see the paper. _Let me read it for you then, shorty. Number one –_

“Are they numbered according to how mad they were at you, or did you put them alphabetically? Or are they just randomly numbered?” Krista asked, interrupting the husky’s thoughts.

Ymir snorted, unimpressed. _These 10 people were the most upset at me, that much I can remember. How am I supposed to remember who hated me the most?_

“I was just asking…”

_Anyway, let’s just go to the first one on the list and I’ll tell you who they are as we tick their names off._

“Okay.”

XxX

Half an hour later Krista was driving through an unfamiliar neighbourhood with Ymir sitting in the seat beside her, leaning up on the dashboard to see the houses as they passed them.

“So, who is the first person we’re checking?”

“Hmm…” Krista frowned. Ymir still wasn’t giving her any clues as to what gender these people were. She could definitely not make out her terrible handwriting and Ymir seemed to enjoy putting the blonde through this suspense. Krista didn’t even understand why this mattered so much. It didn’t matter who Ymir was attracted to, though Krista had concluded that she was either into girls only or she was into them as well as guys, if her dirty thoughts on Petra was any indication. The thing is, Krista didn’t just want to assume in case Ymir had just been messing with her and not actually mentally flirting with her cousin. It was also an incredibly uncomfortable and weird mental image to picture Ymir being with a man. It just felt… wrong. Krista shuddered.

_Stop at this house, this is it._

Krista looked to where Ymir pointed her nose and then parked her car in the driveway. It was a moderate house with a neatly trimmed garden, seemingly well taken care of.

“Are you sure this is it?”

_I’ll never forget this house. I had to hide at the back once, naked and fearing for my life._

They reached the door and Krista rang the bell. “Fearing for your life? Why would you do that?”

The door swished open and a large, very muscular man with absolutely no hair and a giant dragon tattoo on his face stood there, looming over the now shivering blonde. Ymir and this guy couldn’t have…?

“I-is Alex here?” Krista asked, now fearing for her life too.

The beast of a man eyed Krista up and down for a moment and then he smiled gently and moved to the side. “Yes, come in. What is a cute girl like you looking for Alex for?” His voice was deep but it sounded gentle and friendly, and the smile helped to ease the look of murder on his face.

Krista relaxed slightly and stepped in, but she was still pretty tense. “I hope you don’t mind my dog coming with me, she helps with my anxiety problems.”

“It’s no problem, as long as she doesn’t mess. You can take a seat in the lounge. Alex should be home soon.” He ushered her to the living room and disappeared into the kitchen.

Krista didn’t have time to look around the room because the huge man had returned with glasses of orange juice. Krista accepted a glass with a smile and a nod and glanced down at Ymir at her feet. The husky looked uncomfortable, ears folded back on her head and her nose was twitching. Her eyes were also darting to all of the exits of the room.

“My name is Gregory, you can call me Greg. Do you know Alex?”

“Krista.” The blonde grabbed the outstretched hand and shook it, surprised at how soft the handshake was despite how big and meaty the man’s hand was. “I don’t actually. I’m here to investigate a murder.”

Ymir’s ears perked and she glanced up Krista but the blonde only smiled at her and turned back to Gregory. “I’ll need to wait for Alex before I can disclose any information, though.”

“I completely understand.” Gregory said. The sound of a door opening drew their attention and Gregory stood quickly. “That should be Alex.” He disappeared down the hall and then returned a moment later.

Krista felt her heart jerk when she caught sight of Alex.

It was a woman, but not just a woman. She was absolutely gorgeous to supermodel standards. She had long, wavy blonde hair that stopped just to the middle of her back and giant, bouncing breasts. Her skin was pale and her lips full and red. Her eyes were a light shade of intense blue, and when they noticed Krista sitting and timidly watching her, they shone with confusion and turned to Gregory standing beside her.

There was absolutely nothing imperfect about this woman, besides her shortness. She must have been two or three inches taller than Krista, but she was still a dwarf compared to the giant that was Gregory.

“Honey, who is our guest?” Alex asked, voice thick and warm like honey. It made Krista swallow and hide her blush.

Ymir sighed internally. _Those tits haven’t aged a day…_ she thought dreamily. Krista ignored Ymir’s perving and stood to shake Alex’s soft hand.

“Hi, my name is Krista and I'm an investigator. I need to ask you a few questions.”

_Why didn’t you tell me you were pretending to investigate my death? This is pissing me off. I'm not dead. I know you’re pretending and all, but give me some warning!_

Again Krista ignored Ymir’s thoughts and focused on the task at hand.

“Oh?” Alex said and glanced worriedly at Gregory. “Has something happened?”

They all took a seat and Krista pulled a small notebook out of her jacket. “Alex, is it?”

“Yes, Alex Smith.”

Krista nodded and jotted that down. “Mrs Smith.”

“Just call me Alex, please.” Alex said and glanced at Gregory again. He merely shrugged his shoulders, as confused as her. She took his hand and attempted a smile. “I hope nothing terrible has happened.” she said softly.

 _She looks piss scared. This is hilarious!_ Ymir thought. _Drag it out some more and make them sweat and think her mother died or something._

Krista had to pause and glance down at Ymir. The husky felt her gaze and looked up. Even Ymir felt a little intimidated by the intense glare Krista was giving her, so she decided to shut up and take a nap or something.

“I am here to ask if you know of a Ymir?”

The couple visibly stiffened at the name. Alex shifted her eyes to the floor and Gregory’s face started turning red while the veins in his throat popped out and pulsed.

“What did that bitch do now?”

Krista was taken aback with this extremely negative response and had to swallow her anger down. Why was she angry about it anyway? Ymir probably deserved how they felt about her. She still didn’t like Ymir being insulted though.

“Well, sir, she was murdered a week ago and we are investigating the possible suspects. We found a list of names in her house and Alex was one of them. Were you a close friend?” Krista poised her pen above the paper, looking expectantly at both of them.

“Murdered, huh?” Alex said softly, eyes still down cast but shocked and enraged at the same time.

“Serves that cunt right.” Gregory growled, no longer sounding as friendly as he had earlier. Krista took one look at his furious face and realized exactly why Ymir had feared for her life, for whatever reason.

“Did either of you have a reason to kill Ymir?” Krista questioned, making sure she looked as suspiciously at them as possible. Anyone would suspect him within the first second, with the way he was speaking.

“Of course I do. That bitch seduced my wife and fucked her in _my_ bed. She was lucky I didn’t kill her when it happened! She was lucky she was so damn tall or else she wouldn’t have been able to run away that fast and escape. I wish I had killed her, but no, I didn’t.” Gregory responded.

Alex put a hand on his knee to calm him, but it didn’t seem to work very well. “This happened about 2 years go. We have not seen or heard of Ymir since. All I shared with her was a terrible choice one night. I'm sorry but that’s all I have to give you.”

Krista studied them for a long moment. Alex seemed upset about Ymir’s ‘murder’, so the blonde concluded she wouldn’t have been the one to curse her. Gregory, on the other hand, seemed the type to have actually killed Ymir with his bare hands. He didn’t seem at all the type to resort to any form of black magic for revenge. If he had wanted revenge he would have sought the brunette out and either beat her until she could barely move, or kill her.

So it wasn’t these two, but Krista had to make super sure anyway.

“I see. Thank you. Can I use your bathroom before leaving?” Krista asked, already standing. Alex nodded slowly and Gregory didn’t even respond.

Krista swallowed, guilty at having opened up old wounds for them and sought the bathroom out down the hall.

“You slept with a married woman? Ymir, how low can you get?”

 _Oh please, she is the one that seduced me. We met at a bar when her husband was out of town for work. I have to say, she enjoyed our time together as much as I did. Best tits I have ever had the pleasure of seeing or touching._ Ymir chuckled, the sound coming out as a weird bark. _Almost best fuck of my life_.

Krista just sighed and walked past the bathroom and into the last room in the passage.

 _What are you doing?_ Ymir asked, confused.

“Looking for any evidence of them putting a spell on you. There could be a cult book, certain types of candles, anything out of the ordinary.” Krista responded.

 _I’ll help then._ Ymir disappeared into the other room and together they made quick work of searching the rooms. When all of them had been cleared they had one more place to look. Outside at the back.

“Well, thank you for your cooperation. If you remember anything that could help in this case, or hear anything, please contact me.” Krista handed a card she had made that morning to them and bid her farewell.

Alex was kind enough to greet her back but Gregory just stomped off to another part of the house and didn’t even look back.

Once outside Krista crouched down to Ymir’s level and put a hand on her head.

_Why are you touching me?_

“Just keep quiet and listen. They will probably see me if I go so I need you to check the backyard. Look at any spots with soil for any signs of shapes drawn into it, okay?”

Ymir grumbled internally and nodded. _I expect a reward for this._

“My help is reward enough.” Krista responded and watched Ymir disappear around the house. She waited by her car, leaning against the side until Ymir came trotting back.

_There’s nothing, I double checked._

“Okay.” Krista climbed in and waited for Ymir to jump in beside her. She removed the small book and crossed Alex’s name off of the list. “Now we need to check the other names. By the way, you really like blonde women, don’t you?”

Ymir shrugged as best she could and looked on with boredom. _Yeah, I have since I can remember. You aren’t one of those lesbian haters, are you? I won’t hesitate to bite your face off I you are._

Krista rolled her eyes and started her car. “I’m far from it, Ymir. I like my face, by the way, so stop threatening to eat it.”

_I’ll stop threatening you when you stop looking annoying to me._

Krista just ignored Ymir and drove off. Eventually she had to turn to the husky and speak. “So, who is our next target?”

 _Her name is Saya._ Ymir responded. _Take the next left and I’ll direct us there. It’s at the far side town though. Do we have enough time?_

Krista sighed but nodded. “Might as well get it over with now before I get swamped with assignments again. At least winter break is almost here and then I can really help you wean out the psycho exes.”

XxX

"So, Ymir." Krista spoke up to hopefully start conversation. They had been driving for a bit in silence and Krista couldn't take it anymore. "Tell me about yourself." Ymir didn't respond, so Krista continued. "What do you do, career wise? Do you work or are you still studying?"

Ymir lifted her head to give Krista a blank stare and then rested back down on the seat. Krista sighed but shrugged it off.

"I'm busy studying journalism. It's been my dream since I was a little girl to report the news and keep the world informed. Secretly I plan on exposing government secrets and corruption."

Ymir snorted. _Yeah, and get yourself killed._

Krista was thrilled that Ymir had responded and ignored her pessimistic thoughts. "Of course I've never actually revealed that to anyone. I know it's a dangerous dream, but I'm determined to do it. Someone has to!"

_Why do you think that someone is you? What makes you so special?_

"If not me, then who?"

_I'm sure someone out there is as stupid as you._

Krista frowned. "You're mean, Ymir..." she said with slight hurt.

 _I never claimed to be nice_ , Ymir responded.

Krista kept her eyes forward, following the directions Ymir had given her to a different part of town where Saya hopefully still lived. Now that they were conversing, she decided that it was time to pose the question that had been on her mind the entire day.

"Ymir, what happened to you to get you all bloody and injured?" Krista asked softly, hesitant to ask because she didn't want Ymir to ignore her again, but she needed to ask.

_None of your business._

"I need to know if I'm going to help you..."

"Please, Ymir? I'll… uh…” Krista bit her lip, trying to think of what would appeal to the brunette that wouldn’t require too much effort. Krista thought of something and blushed scarlet red. She was desperate to know, and Ymir wouldn’t be that mad if she didn’t go through with her end of the deal if she agreed… Krista took a breath, steeling her nerves, and then finally finished her sentence with the most embarrassing thing she had ever offered in her life. “I’ll let you see my boobs?" she suggested, face flaming red. It was a dirty tactic to use and she knew it, but she really was desperate.

_... No._

Krista sighed in relief but pressed on, even more desperate now to know. "Please? Did someone attack you? Did you fall or something? What happened?"

Ymir sighed internally. _If I tell you will you stop annoying me?_

"Yes!"

Ymir sighed again. _Fine._ She sat up and glanced out of the window, noticing that they were almost at Saya's house. It was still far enough away that arriving wouldn't save her. _There is a group of stray dogs in the area and when they caught my scent and saw me wandering around they attacked me. I don't know how to properly use this damn animal body yet so I didn't know how to defend myself. Luckily some guy walking past saw the commotion and chased the dogs off. I don't remember much after that, and then I woke up and you were there._

Krista glanced sympathetically at Ymir and wished she could convey some type of comfort to her. She could tell Ymir was the type to do things in a solitary manner and probably wouldn't be impressed if she suddenly hugged her... Especially since Krista was driving.

"That's terrible!" Krista exclaimed. "Please don't wander off on your own again, it's dangerous."

Ymir just swished her tail around and focused back onto the road.

"We're here." Krista announced after parking in the correct driveway and switching the car off. "Are you ready?"

_As I'll ever be._


	8. Chapter 8

They both climbed out of the car and made their way to the door. Krista took a moment to squint her eyes at the weird pink house. It had a green roof with light pink walls and a white fence surrounding it.

“Should I worry?” Krista asked softly.

_Let’s just say Saya isn’t all there in terms of sanity._

“What did she do?”

_Ask her and you’ll find out._

Krista couldn’t respond because the door flung open – before she had even knocked – and a pretty blonde stood at the entrance, staring through narrowed eyes.

“Who are you?” she asked bluntly, the suspicion in her dark blue eyes making Krista want to fidget.

“Uh, hi. I’m detective Renz and I'm here to ask you about Ymir.” The moment Krista said ‘Ymir’ the suspicion in the other blonde’s eyes dropped and she gasped loudly.

“Ymir?! Where is she? Is she here? What happened?”

Krista looked at her for a moment, swallowing her apprehension down before she pointed past the other blonde and spoke. “Can I come in? It would be easier to discuss this with some privacy. I hope you don’t mind my dog, she accompanies me for security.”

The other blonde gasped and stepped away from the door. “Of course, and I don’t mind at all! Come on in and tell me all about Ymir. Are you a girlfriend? Wife? Mistress?” She sounded half crazed, making Krista hesitate in stepping through the front door.

_She may sound like she will but she won’t kill you. There is a possibility that she might kidnap you, but I doubt she will. You aren’t her type at all._

Krista sighed softly but stepped inside and followed Saya into the lounge. She gulped softly and refrained from gaping at the hundreds of pictures of different women on her wall. They all looked very similar to Ymir – and her picture was included – and there had to be about 20 different women. They all seemed to be unaware of the picture though. Just how crazy was Saya?

“Please excuse my manners. I'm kind of on the police watch list at the moment. Anyway, you mentioned Ymir?” Her eyes sparkled and Krista felt not one ounce of guilt at having to lie to her.

“I am sorry to inform you but Ymir was involved in a robbery a few days ago and she was shot dead. We are unsure if she was an innocent victim or if she had been involved, so we are investigating all of her family, friends and acquaintances to determine if she had any habits of doing crime. What is your name?”

“I-it’s Saya…” the other blonde said, face emptied of colour and lips quivering. “Is she really dead? Did she suffer?”

“She died immediately, so we don’t think she suffered at all. Were you close with her, Miss Saya?”

“I was. We were deeply in love at some stage, but some disagreements led to her leaving without telling me. I’ve been trying to track her down for two years but now it’s useless if she’s dead.” Saya covered her mouth and started to sob, shoulders shaking as her tears poured down her cheeks and dripped from her chin.

Krista glanced at Ymir who appeared very unimpressed.

_Firstly, we were never in love. I slept with her once and she stalked me for weeks after. I had to pretend to move about because of her. She even kidnapped me once during her stalking and chained me up in her basement._

Krista’s eyes widened.

_But she didn’t do anything bad, she only had sex with me for three days straight until I managed to break out and escape through her window. At least I enjoyed those three days, and other than being exhausted and not being able to walk for a while after, it wasn’t that bad._

Krista just shook her head and turned back to Saya who had gotten her sobbing under control and only sniffled a bit. She wasn’t all that attractive, but she was pretty. Her hair was long and curly and her skin pale, but she was slightly taller than Krista and had a slightly larger chest.

“Did she ever show signs of being involved in any crimes?”

Saya shook her head violently, eyes suddenly enraged. “NO! Ymir was perfect! Not only was she sexy and gorgeous and perfect, but she was perfect in bed! She would never do any type of crime!” Saya growled loudly and stood up from the couch. She stomped over to her wall of framed photographs and pulled one of Ymir down, hugging it to her chest as she started to sob again. “How can she be gone? We were supposed to get married and have eight beautiful babies and grow old together.”

Krista would have felt pity for her if she wasn’t so crazy. She just shook her head and stood up from the couch. “Listen, I can see you need time to grieve. If you think there is anything you can tell me that can help, give me a call. I'm putting my card on the table.” Krista did as she said and then started walking to the door. Saya showed no signs of hearing her and started lovingly kissing the picture.

Krista didn’t even wait to see if she had acknowledged her request and just let herself out and hurried to her car. “Ymir, why?”

_I honestly had no idea she was such a fuckin’ loon. She was being all sexy at this bar I was at and I offered to go to her place for some fun. She was not happy at all that I left the next morning before she woke up. Anyway, let me hurry over to the back and check for anything suspicious._

Ymir hurried to the back of the house and returned a moment later. Krista was already seated in the car, shaking her head in confusion and turned to the husky once she jumped into the car seat beside her.

“I don’t understand your choice in women. I get the body type, but don’t you have any intuition on their mental states?”

_Nope. All I see are their tits and I'm taken. Besides, weren’t you an investigator investigating my death? What’s with the detective act and my supposed involvement in a robbery?_

“I just figured I’d change it up and make it interesting.” Krista started the car and quickly drove away from the house.

“How come you’re lying just fine now but you couldn’t with Petra?”

Krista shrugged. “I don’t know. This is more serious, I guess. You’re depending on me too so I can’t afford to do anything wrong.”

“I’m not depending on you.”

“Let’s just go home. I’ve had enough of your crazy exes for one day. We can continue another time.”

Ymir just swished her tail and rested her head down on her front paws. _Fine by me. Not like I care,_ Ymir finally responded.

Krista smiled slightly, knowing that Ymir really did care otherwise they wouldn’t be doing this. She still couldn’t wrap her head around the people Ymir had associated herself with, so she cleared those thoughts from her mind and focused on the present.

“So Ymir, would you like to watch a movie when we get home?”

“Aww, I’ll let you choose it.”

Ymir’s ears perked slightly and she released a puff of air from her nose. She turned her head to the side, away from Krista. _Fine._

Krista smiled brighter and drove them home. When they reached her house she and Ymir left the car and hurried inside. It was freezing and the wind was icy. There were angry clouds hanging overhead, threatening to pour at any moment.

Once inside Krista immediately started a fire at the fireplace, turned the TV on for some background music and went into the kitchen to make lunch for Ymir and herself. They had been out for some time and both were hungry.

“What would you like to eat?” Krista asked, glancing down at Ymir sitting at her feet.

 _Whatever you’re having,_ the husky responded.

Krista nodded and went to work on making two chicken sandwiches.  When they were done she carried two plates into the lounge and placed one on the seat of the couch before taking a seat beside it. Ymir jumped up on the couch and immediately started chewing on the sandwich, realizing she had been hungrier than she thought.

“So, of the list of ten we have managed to cross two names off; Alex and Saya. When do you want to investigate the rest?” Krista started, hating the silence and wanting to speak to Ymir.

_I don’t care. I haven’t agreed to stay, you know. I'm just using you for now ‘cause you might help. I don’t think this will even work anyway._

Krista frowned. “Then why did you accept my help?”

 _What other choices do I have?_ Ymir growled in agitation and pushed the plate to Krista. She made a sneezing noise and then curled up, face hidden in her brown fur.

Krista sighed and took the empty plates back to the kitchen. She washed them and then returned to Ymir’s side on the couch. Feeling sympathy for the brunette, Krista hesitantly reached out and ran a hand through her fur. Ymir stiffened at the touch.

“Let’s watch a movie, you can choose it. Maybe it will help you feel better.”

_What makes you think I'm feeling down in the first place?_

“I would too, if I was in your situation. I'm alone too, Ymir. I have no family. I do have my friends, but they have lives of their own. I know how you feel because I feel it too. So please, stop being so stubborn and open up to me.” Krista pleaded, heart pounding.

Ymir lifted her head and looked deeply into Krista’s eyes. She studied them and then flicked her eyes away and uttered a canine sigh. _What movies do you have?_

Krista squealed in delight, making Ymir roll her eyes, and hurried to her shelf of DVDs. She read each title out, Ymir barking her disagreement for each one until eventually she gave up and simply agreed to the next title Krista read. The blonde put the movie in and settled down on the couch to watch.

When the opening scene started Ymir lost all interest and returned to being curled up in a ball. Krista just sighed but focused on the movie, telling Ymir about what was happening as it progressed. At some point Krista went to fetch a small blanket for herself because the fire wasn’t enough to keep them entirely warm, and she was freezing.

Ymir noticed and felt the desire to get under the blanket too, but it was too small and she would end up having to lie against the blonde. She was cold, but her stubbornness won out and she remained on the other end of the couch, shivering.

Inevitably Krista noticed and sighed, guessing that Ymir was probably too stubborn to ask for some of the blanket. To make it easier for the brunette she simply scooted up closer to her and draped half of it over her. She ended up half in the cold, but she didn’t mind.

_What are you doing?_

“You’re cold so I’m sharing my blanket.”

_Idiot, it isn’t big enough for both of us. Won’t you just get cold in the end?_

“I don’t mind, as long as you’re warm.”

Ymir glanced up at her with frustration, but sighed and curled up again, now warming up under the blanket. As the movie neared its end Ymir started feeling Krista’s shivering beside her and rolled her eyes.

 _You really are an idiot, you know that?_ Ymir stated and moved closer to Krista. She turned around and rested her head on Krista’s lap, thus allowing them both to properly rest under the blanket without either exposed to the icy air.

Krista’s heart jerked and she swallowed audibly. “Th-thanks.” she said, ignoring the spike in her pulse. Ymir assumed her stuttering was due to the cold and paid it no mind, though Krista was quite warm from the inside out and wasn’t really sure why she had stuttered in the first place.

They remained like that for a moment until Krista got up to put a different movie in. Ymir didn’t care what movie it was and just curled up against Krista to sleep. She got over her initial discomfort of being so close to the blonde, and started to enjoy the warmth of her small body.

As they sat together in comfortable silence, watching movies, the afternoon passed and soon night fell.

XxX

Just after midnight Krista was woken by the familiar sound of a hiss and then the brush of hot air. It was so hot that she instantly started to sweat, because for some reason the heat was constant and it as only getting hotter. At first Krista thought that Ymir was beside her and had just turned, but the heat was getting worse and her skin felt flushed.

Drudging her consciousness up, Krista managed to ignore the scolding heat and forced her eyelids open, only to look straight up into burning brown eyes.

Instantly she realized that she had fallen asleep on the couch and she was now on her back, still on the couch. Ymir was hovering over her, dangerously close to her face. Her eyelids were lidded and the entire length of her body was covering Krista’s. Like always, she was naked, and Krista realized that it was her body that was hot and the heat was scorching her. The brunette’s face was pink, either from the heat or something else. Her chest was heaving, evidence by the hurried movement of her chest that was pressed up against Krista’s.

“Ymir?” Krista squeaked out. How the hell had they ended up in that position and why was Ymir on top of her like that, looking at her the way she was?

“Kris… ta…” Ymir uttered, her voice strained and thick. Sweat dripped off of her forehead, nose and chin and she looked incredibly flushed.

Krista realized that her body was trembling and ignored her initial confusion and fear in favour of worry. “Ymir, what’s wrong? You feel incredibly hot.” She managed to lift an arm and touched her palm to Ymir’s cheek. For some reason the touch made Ymir flinch but groan.

“Don’t… touch…” She sounded breathless too, like she was struggling to talk.

Krista was really starting to worry now. “Come on Ymir, I think you need to go to the hospital. You have an extremely high fever. How do you feel?”

“Hot.” Ymir hissed, eyes still boring into Krista’s. It was such a burning, passionate gaze that it made Krista shiver. “So hot… I can’t…” Her jaw clenched and the muscles in her neck bulged with the force.

For some strange reason Krista found it attractive and suddenly her body felt hot too. Not just from Ymir’s naked body on top of hers, but from the inside too. She started feeling weird and her heart beat faster. What was happening to her? She also couldn’t look way from Ymir’s eyes. She wanted to look away and get out from under her, but her body refused to move.

“Can’t…” Ymir said again, a pained expression contorting her face. She leaned down, closing the already small space between their faces. Krista wanted to panic and turn her face away, but she couldn’t. Her body felt too heavy to move and she could only just lay there. Only a second passed and then their lips were touching.

At the first touch a painful spark shot out from where Ymir’s lips touched hers and travelled along her veins to every inch of her body and she could suddenly move again, but she didn’t. It felt as if Ymir couldn’t control her body either, and it was moving on its own. The brunette whimpered and shut her eyes tight. Her body was burning and it was painful, but it felt so good at the same time.

Krista simply shut her eyes as Ymir started kissing her and didn’t care to wonder why she was enjoying it or why it was making her _so hot_. She just wrapped her arms around Ymir and ran her hands along the smooth skin on her back. The skin was almost too hot to touch, and slick with sweat.

Ymir growled, the sound inhuman and hungry, and stopped her assault on Krista’s lips to move and kiss along her throat. Krista cried out and exposed as much of her neck as possible. Every touch of Ymir’s lips along her skin burnt and tingled, but Krista felt too numbed with the sensation to realize that this was taking a turn she had never expected.

“Ymir…” Krista moaned, unable to control it. This seemed to snap the brunette out of whatever trance she had been in and she quickly leaned back, panting and sweating even more. “Ymir?”

“Oh God…” Ymir moved back until she fell off of the couch. She stood and ran for the bathroom. Krista ran right after her, legs still heavy and shaking, but she managed to race after the brunette and found her shivering in the corner of the shower, water pouring out and drenching her sweat slicked skin.

“Ymir?” Krista reached out to touch her and felt the water. It was icy cold and she quickly wrenched her hand back.

Ymir groaned in pain and covered her head with her arms. She looked to be panting still but the flush had left her skin. “My body is so fucking hot it feels like I'm on fire.” Ymir finally muttered, voice stronger than before.

Krista swallowed and reached for a towel. “You can’t stay in that freezing water, you’ll get sick.”

“I don’t fucking care. Even the water isn’t helping much but it’s taken the edge off.”

“Please? I’ll get some ice and a cold cloth and wipe you down with it until the fever goes down.”

“If it goes down.” Ymir grumbled and looked at Krista. The blonde was crouching down beside her just outside of the shower. She glanced up at the shower head and at the water cascading down on her. It was true that she would probably end up sick, but she felt so damn hot. As Ymir took a moment to deliberate she felt her temperature slightly decrease and slowly moved out of the corner. She didn’t even care that Krista was the one wrapping the towel around her body and simply let the blonde pull her over into her bedroom.

Krista reached for a handy pair of boxers but Ymir groaned from where she lay curled up on the bed. “No clothes, it’s too hot. Please open the window. Get ice. It’s too fucking hot.” The blonde dropped her hand and dashed out of the room to get the required items. She returned a moment later with some ice and a cloth and hurried to open the window.

“Is this the first time you’ve developed a fever like this? Does it happen after you turn?” The blonde asked after sitting down on the bed next to Ymir and running the cold cloth over her shoulder.

Ymir groaned in appreciation. “No, it… this happens… every time, but never as bad as this.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Wasn’t important.” Ymir turned onto her stomach and let Krista run the cold cloth down the slope of her back. “Jesus, I feel so hot.”

Krista paid no attention to the fact that Ymir was naked and bared right before her and simply focused on helping her in this tense situation. “Ymir, it is important to me. If you get any strange symptoms you need to tell me. Not just for our search of the person that cursed you, but also so that I can help with whatever it is. I worry about you.”

Ymir just scoffed but grimaced when a sudden wave of heat passed over her body. “Jesus, fuck.” Her body tensed for a second, muscles bulging and straining, and then she relaxed back against the bed and sighed in relief. “Sorry, I-I’ll say something next time.” Another heat wave hit and Ymir tensed. The brunette was really gratefully for the blonde’s help, enough to stop being difficult. She felt incredibly awful and doubted she would have been able to remain so calm about it if Krista wasn’t there to help her and actually care.

So yeah, Ymir was slowly starting to believe that Krista wasn’t in it for some personal gain. She was still suspicious and not willing to just fully believe in the blonde yet, though.

“Why is this happening?” Krista asked herself softly, watching Ymir tense up again and cry out in pain. Her heart felt heavy at having to sit there and watch Ymir suffer. She tried her best to cool the brunette down with the cold cloth but the ice had already melted and it didn’t seem to help much anyway.

“I’ll be right back.” Krista said and attempted to get off of the bed, but a burning, large hand grabbed hers and pulled her back down.

“No, don’t leave. Just stay, please.” Ymir was panting, finding it difficult to breathe again. She would never admit it, but she was honestly fearing for her life now. She had never really taken the whole curse thing seriously, but now she realized how serious it was. If someone had succeeded in getting her to turn into a dog then that person was capable of doing any number of other things. It scared Ymir, and she didn’t want to be alone anymore.

Krista’s heart swelled and she nodded. “Of course, I’ll stay. I'm not going anywhere, Ymir.” The blonde watched in surprise as Ymir wrapped her arms around her waist and curled her body against her, crying out softly when a wave washed over her body. All Krista could do was soothingly rub her back and run a hand through her damp hair.

It stayed like that for a long while, possibly an hour, until Ymir fell asleep, breathing calmly and deeply. She still had her arms around Krista’s waist but they had slackened. Sometime during the hour Ymir had rested her head in her lap.

Krista tentatively ran her hand along Ymir’s side and sighed in utter relief. Her skin had decreased in temperature, rapidly, and now she felt only slightly warmer than usual body temperature. Krista was extra grateful for the cold weather, because Ymir probably would have been in serious trouble if it had been hot in the room on top of her intense body temperature.

Krista rested down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. She was too exhausted to move their position and simply left Ymir where she was, head now resting on her stomach. It felt oddly nice.

The blonde’s cheeks grew warm when their kiss flashed in her mind. Because of the hour of panic she hadn’t even had the time to think about what had happened.

Ymir had kissed her, and it had felt amazing. Krista wasn’t that dense not to have known that she had been intensely turned on by Ymir, though she wasn’t sure if it had happened naturally or if some other force had been at play. It certainly had felt like something had just taken them over, intensifying their feelings that probably weren’t even there to begin with.

Why had Ymir done it though? Krista wished she could wake Ymir to ask her, but the poor brunette had finally fallen asleep after going through a full hour of hell. She would have to wait for the morning to get her answers.

Krista closed her eyes, leaving the blanket because Ymir was still warm enough to keep the chilly cold away, and drifted off into a restless sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning was just as cold and gloomy as the previous. Krista had woken first and left Ymir to sleep soundly, on her bed and once more as a husky. The blonde took a morning shower, washing the remains of Ymir’s and her sweat away from last night. She tried her best not to think about what had transpired, but it was difficult and she ended up thinking about it all through the morning.

After breakfast Ymir had yet to awaken, so Krista took a seat in the lounge and reached for the telephone on the side table. Her mind kept racing with thoughts and questions, all of it concerning last night and the kiss she and Ymir had shared. It felt almost surreal, but it felt too real to have been a dream. Krista was unsure of exactly how she should handle the situation, hence why she was currently dialling a familiar number. Maybe talking to someone about it would make her feel better.

After a few seconds and a couple of rings the line picked up and a cheerful voice filtered through. “Krista!”

“Morning Petra, do you have time to talk?”

On her end, Petra’s smile faltered as she heard the soft uncertainty and worry in Krista’s voice. “Of course. I was just cleaning the house but I can skip an hour or two. What’s wrong?”

Krista smiled. Of course Petra would immediately pick up on her down mood. “Well, I can’t tell you the exact details, so I’ll need you to be very open right now and to not ask any questions at all. Okay?”

Petra’s eyebrow shot up. “This is about that sexy brunette, isn’t it?” When there was only silence as a response, Petra sighed. “Okay, sorry. Forget I asked that. You can talk and I’ll listen without trying to get any answers out of you.”

“Thank you.” Krista took a deep breath, preparing herself. “Okay, so there’s this girl who is in an impossible situation. She literally stumbled upon it by chance and doesn’t have the heart to get out of it. Say this situation happens to involve another person…” Krista swallowed. “And uh… say that person is going through some physical changes, and the girl who is helping this person ended up being in a really embarrassing situation with this person.”

“Okay, and what is this situation?”

“Say this person and the girl ended up kissing, but they both couldn’t control themselves at all, almost supernaturally so. What would you do if you were the girl?”

Petra elicited a puff of air in response. She scrunched her eyebrows together in thought, itching to beg Krista for the actual story but respecting her cousin enough not to. “Well, if I was into that person and we ended up kissing, I would probably let it go further or I would stop and ask what this person is trying to do, exactly.”

“But what if you suddenly can’t pull away? What if you feel completely trapped, even though you can move? What if you realize that you really like it but you don’t know why?”

“Hmmm…” Petra bit her lip in contemplation. “I think it would be smart to stop it and talk about it before anything goes further.”

Krista sighed impatiently. “Yes, but what if you really can’t stop it at all?”

“Then I have no idea… go with it until someone stops?”

“And then if the person does stop before going further, what would you say the next day?”

“I would probably question that person’s feelings for me and demand an honest answer as to why the person kissed me. Look, cuz, I don’t know what you got yourself into but I advise that you talk everything out instead of sitting quietly like you do, being all confused and unsure.”

Krista covered her face with her hand, face blushing fiercely. “I never said this involved me…”

“I know, but just in case,”

“Okay, thanks Petra. I think I know what to do now.” Krista realized her slip and gasped softly. “I mean, uh, what to do if something like this ever happens…”

Petra just laughed. “Yeah, whatever you say. Now I'm going to finish with my cleaning before Levi gets home. Let me know if you’ve decided that you can tell me anything.”

Krista smiled softly and bid Petra goodbye and then she hung up and stared up at the ceiling with a sigh. Talk to Ymir about it, huh? It would be extremely embarrassing, but Krista understood that it had to be done. If anything, she needed to find out if Ymir had been controlled in some way or if she had been driven by actual feelings.

Thinking that the snarky brunette could possibly feel anything for her made Krista roll her eyes, but she couldn’t assume it was completely wrong until Ymir denied it.

With a nervous flutter of her stomach, Krista left the lounge and headed for her bedroom. It was now early afternoon and Ymir hadn’t left Krista’s room yet. Was she still sleeping or was she hiding?

“Ymir?” Krista called out softly and pushed the door open. Ymir lay on her side in the centre of the bed, her back facing Krista. “Are you awake?”

_Go away._

“I can’t, I need to talk to you.”

 _I don’t feel in the mood for company right now._ Ymir’s thoughts sounded frustrated and annoyed.

Krista sighed and went over to the bed, sat down at the edge and nervously fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

“Ymir, can we please just talk?”

 _I said go away. Are_ you _deaf as well as stupid? I don’t want company right now._

Krista swallowed her hurt and instead focused on getting her words out before Ymir forced her from the room. “A-about last night… uh… you… k-kissed me… and… did you…?” She couldn’t finish her question because her cheeks felt too hot and her heart was pounding. It was too embarrassing. Krista waited patiently for a response, hoping Ymir would get the gist of what she was trying to ask. Apparently she didn’t, or she pretended not to, because she didn’t respond at all. Krista sighed and decided to just leave it. She obviously wasn’t going to get a response and this was more embarrassing than she could handle. The blonde stood up from the bed with a sad sigh and made her way over to the door, only to freeze in the doorway.

_I don’t know why I did that, Krista. I woke up feeling hot and I barely remember anything about last night. I don’t remember kissing you. I only remember waking up feeling hot, going to sleep and then waking up this morning. What happened, exactly?_

Ymir didn’t sound as agitated as earlier, and instead she responded softly, almost hesitantly.

Krista gripped the doorframe and swallowed hard. She could feel Ymir’s eyes on her back, but she didn’t turn. If Ymir didn’t remember at all, what good would bringing it up do? She suffered a lot last night and Krista was relieved that she didn’t remember that part. What she did feel in general was crushing disappointment. She realized she felt disappointed that Ymir didn’t remember the kiss, because it made Krista feel as inconsequential as ever.

It had been selfish to harbour a slight hope that Ymir had been interested at all, making Krista feel slightly important; like she was capable of capturing someone’s attention such as Ymir. Yes, the brunette was mean, sarcastic and mostly unapproachable, but she was gorgeous and one hell of a catch. Krista felt stupid for ever thinking that someone like Ymir would have been interested in someone as lame and weak as her.

“Nothing major happened, Ymir. You just had a slight fever and I had to get you to bed. Nothing important happened at all.” Krista responded softly, almost brokenly.

 _Oh, okay. Feeew. I was worried that I had molested you or something._ Ymir sounded bored and not at all interested.

Yeah, why would Ymir ever go for someone like Krista anyway? She might have been her type physically, but emotionally she probably put the brunette off.

Krista frowned deeply and left the room, promising herself to do her damn hardest to help Ymir or to find someone that could help her, so that she could go back to normal and return to her life.

Ymir watched as Krista stiffly left the room and rolled her eyes, but her heart slightly sank and she uttered a sigh. _You really are an idiot, Krista…_

XxX

Krista had managed to accept the situation as it was and cheered herself up long before Ymir finally left her room to demand food. The blonde had cheerfully complied and went to work on making dinner for her and Ymir. She chatted animatedly as she cooked, telling Ymir about her classmates at university. Ymir would just grunt in response but was too focused on her hunger to care.

Now it was the next day and a Monday morning. Krista attended her usual daily duties, though a bit tiredly because she had taken to waking up at midnight to spend time with Ymir when she was in human form, mainly to crack plans on how to get her back to being normally human. She came home with a bunch of new assignments and a new test to study for, so she spent most of her attention on that.

Even though Ymir had repeatedly said that she was not planning on staying, she did, and Krista didn’t question it. They fell into an easy routine over the next month.

Krista would make food for Ymir, for breakfast and lunch, and made sure it was easily accessible to Ymir while she was away. When she returned after her late afternoon class she would make a quick dinner, speak quickly with Ymir and then work on her assignments and study. The weekends were much the same, though Ymir managed to argue enough that Krista spared a little time to relax on Saturdays and Sundays instead of working so hard on her studies. That was the time Krista used to slowly chip away at Ymir’s cold exterior. The brunette would never admit it, but she came to enjoy her quiet company with Krista.

During the month Krista wasn’t able to help Ymir with the other names on the list, though she had offered to in the beginning. Ymir had just shrugged it off and claimed that it wasn’t important, so Krista felt less guilt at choosing to study instead.

Ymir gradually got used to her dog body, thought she did become increasingly agitated at the whole situation. She missed being human all the time and being able to do normal things like walk on two legs. Her 3 hours after midnight were not enough, and she couldn’t go out anywhere. She didn’t want to leave the house as a dog, but she wasn’t able to do it as a human because of the late time.

On the last Friday of school Krista returned home exhausted and ready for bed. She had completed a difficult test she had studied tirelessly for during the month, and it was finally winter break. She now had three weeks to relax and do as she pleased.

When Krista opened her front door and heard a crash coming from her room, she remembered that she had Ymir on her hands and probably wouldn’t relax at all.

“Ymir?” Krista called out and yawned. She dropped her bag on the kitchen table and then hurried into her room. There she found Ymir lying on her back right beside her bed. “Uh…”

 _Don’t you dare say a word,_ Ymir warned.

“Did you fall off of the bed?” Krista questioned, hiding a smile behind her hand.

 _You saw nothing._ Ymir glared hotly at her and glided out of the room, not sparing a glance behind her. Krista just giggled and followed her to the lounge.

“So I'm finally free and it’s winter break. When would you like to continue our investigation of your possible curser?”

Ymir shrugged. _Dunno, whenever. Doesn’t matter much to me._

“You say that, but I can tell that you’ve been getting more frustrated lately. You must miss being a normal human.”

 _Yeah, yeah, whatever. We can do it whenever you want._ Ymir said and rested on the couch, head lying on her front paws.

“What will you do once we find out who is behind this?” Krista questioned softly.

_Rip their fucking face off and make them remove this damn curse._

“And then once the curse is lifted?”

 _Go back to my life, I guess. Why are you so interested?_ Ymir cast a suspicious stare over to Krista and the blonde shifted nervously.

“No reason! I was just curious.” She giggled nervously and turned the TV on to hopefully distract the brunette. It didn’t work, but Ymir didn’t push on the subject and just went back to napping.

Krista sighed softly to herself and allowed her shoulders to slump. Though she had been very busy over the past month, she had grown closer to Ymir. She couldn’t imagine coming home to an empty house, devoid of a certain naughty husky. She also couldn’t imagine not waking at midnight to talk with Ymir and suffer the brunette’s intense personality and teases. It was a saddening thought to know that Ymir would leave, but it was one Krista knew from the beginning. Why was she so sad anyway? Was it because she just didn’t want to be alone anymore? Having Ymir there was a handful because of the brunette’s difficult personality and stubbornness, but she was endearing when Krista found those odd moments when she caught her off guard for once. Krista had even made Ymir blush at one instance, and it had made her heart swell.

It wasn’t only that, though, that made Krista miserable at the thought of Ymir leaving. Over the long month together she had grown more and more attracted to her, ever since that strange night when Ymir had kissed her. It was like she couldn’t even control it.

Sometimes she would wake up at night, sweaty and hot, and had to take a shower to calm down. During the day the physical attraction was non-existent because at that time Ymir was always in dog form, but whenever she was human again, Krista would sweat. The closer they were physically the warmer Krista would feel inside. It startled Krista more than anything.

But she had chalked it up to her just having weird dreams at night because of the weird situation they were in, and her reaction to Ymir being the way it was because she was fond of her in a friendly way. Of course, there was a nagging thought at the back of her mind that Krista knew none of her feelings were innocent, and were anything but.

Ymir didn’t remember the kiss at all, even though Krista had hinted at it a few times just to see if perhaps she had remembered at all, but Ymir never caught on.

_Hey, squirt, why are you crying?_

Krista gasped lightly and raised a hand to her face. Sure enough, the tips of her fingers were wet with tears when she touched her skin. “Nothing…” she responded and covered her face with her hands, trying not to sob because she suddenly felt greatly saddened.

A minute of silence passed, and then Krista stiffened when she felt a warm finger caress her cheek, wiping a tear away. She was too scared to turn her head, but eventually she did and looked into annoyed blue eyes. Had she imagined that, or for a moment had Ymir turned?

 _Whatever, if you say so. Just don’t go and get my fur wet._ Ymir responded with an eye roll, but Krista saw the barely masked concern behind her eyes.

The sight immediately warmed her inside and Krista’s tears stopped, replaced by a smile.

“So, when do you say we should interrogate ex number three?” Krista asked cheerfully, all traces of her sudden mood swing gone.

If Ymir had been able to then she would have flashed a slight smile. _Tomorrow?_ She offered, unsure.

Krista nodded. “Tomorrow it is then.”

XxX

The next day both Ymir and Krista were up a bit late and hurried to get ready to leave. They were hoping – or Krista was since Ymir played it off like she didn’t care – that they could get through at least half of the names. The longer it took them to find the person that did this to Ymir, the longer it would take to return her to normal.

Ymir acted like she didn’t care, but Krista did. The blonde could now clearly see through Ymir’s cool façade and saw how troubled she really was about the situation. But why did she seem to put the least amount of effort into figuring this out? If it wasn’t for Krista then Ymir probably wouldn’t have tried at all.

“So,” Krista spoke up. They were already driving through town towards the third ex, by Ymir’s directions. The little blonde had been hesitant to start conversation, since Ymir had woken up in a foul mood, but she couldn’t take the silence any longer. “How did you sleep?”

Krista glanced over at the husky. She looked unusually irritated. “Did you have any dreams?”

Ymir looked up suddenly with wide eyes and appeared almost startled. _Why, did you hear any of my thoughts while I was asleep?_ she asked hurriedly.

Krista furrowed her brows and shook her head. “No, why would you think I did?”

_Oh, no reason. And no, didn’t dream… not at all._

“Okay… so, uh, where did you meet ex number 3?”

Ymir sighed. _I met Jade at a park. She was jogging by when she caught my interest and I ended up visiting that park every day for a week to watch her. Eventually she caught on and apparently she was quite interested in me so she gave me her number before she even told me her name._

“Did you have feelings for her?” Krista asked softly. It felt strangely uncomfortable to ask, because Krista was secretly fearing the answer and she didn’t quite understand why.

_Nah, she was just really pretty. And great in bed. I just didn’t know that she apparently fell in love at first sight, or some bullshit like that._

“What happened?”

Ymir rolled onto her back on the car seat and stared up at the ceiling. She wasn’t quite small enough to do that without falling off of the seat, so she had to curl her body on top of it to fit. Krista found it adorable but wisely chose not to comment on that fact.

 _Well, I would meet up with her at the park every day and then we would go out for a coffee or something. After a week of doing this I asked her out to dinner and then into my house after. She enthusiastically accepted and we ended up sleeping together._ Ymir sighed. _It was stupid of me to let her into my house, because I never do that. She seemed so guarded though, I was actually surprised she would have had sex with me after only two weeks of meeting. Unfortunately my initial suspicion was correct._

_I only have conquests and one night stands. After the sex is done I lose any and all interest I had, no matter who the person is or how beautiful she is. Jade didn’t like it and persistently came over to my house. I had to pretend that I moved again. She wasn’t all that crazy, she was just stupidly love struck and driven mad because of it._

“After just two weeks?”

_I have this gift of rocking girls’ worlds._

Krista giggled. “I can only imagine what you could accomplish if you actually fell in love and not in lust.”

They fell into awkward silence, Ymir not up to responding and Krista just leaving the conversation there. She focused instead on the road and obeyed the instructions quietly given by Ymir as they drove. Eventually they made it to a block of flats and together they headed up to the second floor.

_It’s door 56, from what I can remember._

“You know, for only wanting these girls’ bodies I’m surprised you can remember where all of them live.”

Ymir shrugged. _I need to know everything about my conquests before I charm them. I can’t go in blind._

“That sounds a bit creepy. Are you sure you aren’t a stalker too?”

_Har har, watch it or I’ll bite your ankle._

Krista just giggled and rang the bell. She shifted nervously and adjusted the brown coat draped over her body.

The door opened and a pretty blonde about as tall as Krista appeared and gave her a questioning look.

“Hi, can I help you?”

“Uh, yes. My name is Krista and I need to ask you a few questions about Ymir, whom I'm assuming was once a girlfriend of yours?”

Jade shifted her eyes away from Krista’s and noticed the husky laying at her feet. She smiled and crouched down to pet her, and Ymir decided to act like an excited dog and sat up with her tail wagging.

“Can I ask how you know this?” She didn’t sound unpleasant but she did sound very concerned.

“Could we speak inside? This is rather important, and confidential.”

Jade stood back up and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Come in.” She ushered them inside.

Krista felt no need to pardon Ymir’s presence because Jade didn’t seem to mind at all, and followed the other blonde into her living room where they sat down.

“You said this is about Ymir?”

XxX

A few hours later Krista and Ymir returned home. The blonde was exhausted and collapsed on top of her couch the moment she was close enough.

They had ruled Jade out, since she explained how she had been stupid with how she had handled the situation with Ymir and told Krista that she hoped she found the information she was looking for. They had searched her house and the ground around the area but everything appeared normal.

After ex number 3 had been crossed off they went on to number 4 and 5 before calling it a day and stopping it there.

Ex number 4 was the strangest woman Krista had encountered of Ymir’s past lovers so far. She was almost as tall as Ymir and apparently deathly into sports. Ymir had said that she was curious about what being the submissive one felt like and ended up stuck in a strange situation with the woman; her name was Nicole. After trying it Ymir concluded that she much preferred being the dominant one, but Nicole wouldn’t have any of it. She ended up arguing with Ymir and it turned violent. The brunette guessed that it was more about losing something of her possession rather than someone she cared about.

Luckily Ymir had been extra fortunate and didn’t suffer anything more than a few bruises. Nicole ended up with broken ribs and a swollen face.

Krista hadn’t liked that encounter at all. Nicole was intimidating and just mean. Even though Ymir had the exact same personality, Krista could only take it when it was from her, not from someone else. Every minute sitting uncomfortably in that house had been torture. They cleared her name, though, because Nicole seemed like she would have done something like that but she honestly didn’t care about Ymir anymore, and no longer had any reason to curse her.

They went directly to ex number 5 who ended up not being there. Her sister had moved in to her house and informed them that she had moved out of the country shortly after her falling out with Ymir. The sister told them that after Ymir left her, Cindy – the ex – had fallen into severe depression. She had taken to harassing Ymir over the phone and threatening her with suicide if Ymir didn’t take her back. This had forced Ymir to get a new number. Since she was out of the country there was no way she could be the one who had cursed Ymir, since it seemed pointless that she would do that only to never see the result. It also helped that the sister told them that Cindy had moved to get help for herself and had done just that. She was now, apparently, a happy person soon to be married.

With three more off of the list, and half officially ruled out, Krista was hoping they were getting close to the culprit. She also noted that the people they had interrogated so far were from quite a few years ago in Ymir’s past. The further down the list they travelled, the more recent the exes became. Was ex number 10 the most recent, or was Krista looking too closely into things?

Ymir watched Krista’s focused expression and bit back an internal chuckle. Krista was doing her concentration tick again, with her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth.

 _You’re doing the tongue thing again._ Ymir finally remarked and jumped up on the couch beside Krista.

“Again?” Krista’s concentration fell and she blushed. “Sorry…”

 _Why are you apologising? It’s just something you do. Besides…_ Ymir shrugged her dog shoulders and looked off to the side. _It’s cute._

Krista’s eyes widened and her blush deepened. “You’re a big softie, aren’t you?”

 _Shut up_.

Krista bit her lip so as not to giggle and groaned as she forced herself to stand. “What would you like for dinner?” She asked.

_You know, you ask me that every day but I always give you the same answer._

“Right, I’ll just give you what I’m having.” Krista smiled and disappeared into the kitchen.

Neither of them had really realized how busy the day had been, because it was quite late already and the sun had set. It was getting increasingly dark outside.

Ymir went into the kitchen and rested down by the door to watch the tiny blonde work. Her eyes followed Krista with every move she made.

“Say, Ymir…” Krista asked suddenly.

_Mm?_

“Why don’t you seem very enthusiastic to find out who did this to you?”

Ymir sighed through her nose. _Dunno._

“But don’t you want this nightmare to end?”

Krista glanced over at her and saw that Ymir was pretending to nap, so she took that as the conversation ending and focused back on the food. Why did she seem so uninterested? In the beginning she seemed like she had been eager to figure this out, but over the past month that had just decreased.

Krista made sure to file that away for some time later when she was sure Ymir would answer her honestly. For now she just finished the food and carried their plates into the lounge.


	10. Chapter 10

Later that night Krista lay restlessly in bed. It was 11 p.m. and she couldn’t fall asleep. Her mind kept running and thoughts of Ymir and her situation kept circling in her mind.

How could something like this have been possible? How had it been done? Krista imagined what the ritual could have looked like, or what the ex-lover’s intentions could have been.

She sighed. Pondering about this wasn’t going to solve anything, and evidently it was only making her lose sleep. But she really couldn’t sleep anymore and no longer felt tired. Now wide awake, Krista climbed out of her bed and padded softly into the living room.

Ymir was still in dog form, resting silently on the couch under a blanket. She didn’t move at all in her sleep and only breathed quietly. She looked so calm and peaceful, even though she was a husky and not in her human form.

Krista retrieved her school bag from the closet and carried it over to her desk in the corner of the lounge. She placed it on top of the desk, pulled her laptop out and started it up, and then took a seat. Since she couldn’t sleep she figured she would do some writing.

Once her laptop was on she pulled her notebooks out of her bag and opened a document up on her laptop. She had written down a lot of notes on Ymir over the month, when she wasn’t studying or working on assignments, and decided that she would finally type all of it up. She stretched her arms above her head, took a breath and then poised her fingers just above the keyboard.

She started typing out all of her observations. Of how Ymir would get hot flushes every night, though the intensity varied. Her appetite remained large but constant, and she constantly craved meat. She also noted down about each interrogation she had done so far. Krista typed out who the exes were, what transpired between them and Ymir and then the reason of why they were cleared of suspicion.

From behind her Ymir watched. Midnight had already passed and Ymir was now human, though naked. The constant pattering of fingers pressing on buttons had woken Ymir, and when she figured out that it was Krista typing on her laptop, she simply sat up and watched her. After a while, though, she grew tired of watching and stood up, blanket pooling at her feet.

Naked and all, Ymir snuck quietly over to Krista and paused inches behind her. She peered over her shoulder and raised her eyebrow when she read a few lines of text on the screen. So Krista was writing about all of this. The brunette grinned naughtily to herself and then leaned down quietly until her lips were almost brushing against Krista’s ear.

“Whatcha doin’?” She asked sexily. Krista fell right out of the chair in fright, screaming bloody murder as she did so. “Jesus, Krista. Don’t scream so loud.” Ymir shook her head and glared down at the crumbled blonde on the floor.

“Th-then d-don’t scare me like th-that!” Krista squeaked in reply.

Ymir snorted. “You woke me with your damn super typing so I decided to get some revenge.” She offered her hand and waited for Krista to take it.

Krista did, but covered her eyes with her free hand and blushed. “You’re naked.” She pointed out.

Ymir laughed loudly and pulled Krista against her chest the moment she had risen to her feet. “Oh please I'm naked every night. You have to be used to it by now.” She husked softly against Krista’s ear.

“I-I’m not!” Krista refused to open her eyes and pushed against Ymir’s chest to hopefully escape the brunette’s arms. That wasn’t a very good idea though, since she ended up giving up in shoving Ymir away and just pressed her hands against her chest. Against her burning hot and now sweaty skin.

“Krista…” Ymir whispered in a groan. It sounded strangled and pained.

Krista’s eyes immediately shot open and she gasped. Ymir had leaned forward and their faces were now mere inches apart. “Y-Ymir?” This was just like that night when she first discovered Ymir’s hot flushes, the night they had kissed.

Ymir had leaned forward, but she was frozen. She managed to crack an amused grin, like she wasn’t feeling like she was on fire, and slowly sunk down to her knees. Krista didn’t waste any time and quickly retrieved a cloth and ice from the kitchen. When she returned she found Ymir kneeling on the floor and pulled her over to the couch where she went to work on wiping her searing skin down with the cold cloth.

“How bad is it?” Krista asked softly, hurting that she had to watch Ymir suffer.

“Not as bad as the last ones. I think they’re getting less severe.” Ymir replied and grimaced when a slightly more intense wave of heat passed through her body, just beneath her skin.

“Thank you for being honest.” Krista said with a smile and ran the cloth over Ymir’s jaw.

“I should… get clothes… on.” Ymir made to get up but was stopped by Krista pulling her back down.

“No, it’s okay. Clothes will make it worse right now. Are you hungry? Maybe you should take a cold shower and eat something. That normally makes it better.”

Ymir just nodded and dazedly wobbled out of the room to take a cold shower. While she was away Krista fixed the usual of two large steaks for Ymir and when they were done she went into her bathroom to see if Ymir was alright.

“Ymir?” Krista called out, hand covering her eyes.

From the shower Ymir looked up and watched Krista through the stream of clear, cold water cascading down her face. She felt a hell of a lot better, though she noted with a frown that looking at the blonde ignited the fire again and her temperature rose, only slightly.

“I’m fine, Krista. Can you get some clothes for me?” Ymir asked and shut the water off. She grabbed a towel from the towel rack and then dried her skin.

“Here…” Krista walked in blindly with her eyes covered and offered the clothes. Once they were taken she quickly left and returned to the kitchen, sat down at the table and waited for the brunette to return.

Ymir just chuckled at Krista’s cuteness and hurriedly pulled the boxers and t-shirt on. Her stomach was aching and growling loudly, and she was incredibly hungry. It always happened that she would have these intense heat waves and then feel intensely hungry after.

Now dressed and feeling dramatically cooler, Ymir joined Krista at the table and nearly inhaled the food in her haste to fill her stomach.

“Do you feel better now?” Krista asked with concern, watching Ymir wolf her food down with a slight smile.

“What are you, my mother? Jesus Krista, you worry too much. It’s not that bad, really. By the way,” Ymir swallowed the last of the food and shoved the plate away from her. “Why do you have men’s boxers? I must have worn 10 different pairs already.”

Krista took the plate to the sink and washed it off. “Oh, they’re Reiner’s boxers. I hope you don’t mind.” Krista glanced over and noticed Ymir frowning.

“Reiner, huh…” Ymir grumbled softly and stood up from the table. “Anyway, what were you typing earlier?” she asked.

“Please don’t be mad, but I’ve been keeping track of your condition since the first night I believed you. I was just typing out all of the notes I had made on paper.”

“So you wrote about everything that’s happening to me?” Krista nodded. “Even us asking my past lovers if they did it?” Krista nodded again and bit her lip nervously. Would Ymir be upset? “Huh, okay.” Ymir just shrugged her shoulders and disappeared into the lounge, Krista following her.

The brunette plopped down on the couch and turned the TV on.

“You aren’t mad?” Krista asked tentatively.

“Mad? Why would I be?” Ymir responded with boredom and flipped through the channels. “Goddamnit, there’s nothing interesting on.” She turned the TV off and tossed the remote to the side. “There’s never interesting things to do when I’m finally human again.”

Krista sat down beside her and hesitantly touched her hand. “I’ll help you with this, Ymir. I’ll get you back to normal.”

Ymir trailed her eyes from Krista’s hand touching her own to the blonde’s optimistic, kind blue eyes. She frowned. “You don’t know that you can. Don’t make stupid promises like that.”

“But I do. I don’t know how, but I know that I will help you. I will do everything in my power to fix you.”

Ymir wrenched her hand away and barked a humourless laugh. “It might not even be a curse. How the hell can you be so certain? I don’t even deserve…” Ymir stopped and looked away, lips pressed together firmly.

“Ymir? You don’t deserve what?” Krista scooted closer to her only to have Ymir stand up and put distance between them.

“None of your fucking business!” Ymir yelled. “I don’t even know you. Why the hell are you so bent on helping me? Tell me!”

Krista watched Ymir yell and pace with worry. Her lip began to quiver but she stood, hands clasped together. “Ymir…”

“No! Don’t fucking ‘Ymir’ me. If it wasn’t for you I… I…” Ymir growled loudly and balled her fists tightly. Suddenly two small arms wrapped around her waist and her heart felt constricted.

“It’s okay Ymir, you can be angry. I know you aren’t angry at me. You can shout at me as much as you want. You can even… even h-hit me if you need to!” Krista had her cheek pressed to the centre of Ymir’s back and felt her laboured breathing and quickening pulse.

“Hit you?” Ymir turned around. “Do I look the type to ever raise my hand to someone like you?” She looked shocked and wounded, like just the thought pained her.

“No, but I'm letting you know that I mean it when I say I’ll help you.”

Ymir suddenly grabbed Krista’s face and stared intensely into her eyes. “But hit you?”

Krista could only stare. Her heart was pounding in time with her heavy breathing and Krista gently wrapped her hands around Ymir’s wrists. “Ymir?”

Ymir leaned down, her face impossible to read, and only stopped when their lips were almost touching. “I could never hit you.” She whispered, hot breath caressing Krista’s lips and making her hold back a whimper. “And once I get rid of this curse, you’ll be rid of me for good.” The brunette gently released Krista’s face and returned to the couch, though she lay down and pulled the blanket over her.

Krista shivered and released a shaky breath. “I’m sorry for suggesting that…” She swallowed and realized that her mouth was dry. Was Ymir serious? Did she really mean it when she said she would be gone as soon as the curse was lifted? Krista sighed. “Goodnight, Ymir.” She said softly and left the brunette in the lounge. She went into her room, not hearing Ymir quietly mutter goodnight in return, and climbed into bed.

Even though her mind was still numb and excited, she found that she could fall asleep.

XxX

Over the next few days neither spoke of the argument they had or of the conversation that followed. They just continued to act like it had never happened.  It carried on like this for the entire week and by Friday they had all but forgotten it had happened.

Since they had watched movies instead of investigate the last of Ymir’s exes to investigate, Krista was determined to visit ex number 6. She dragged Ymir out of bed too early for the brunette’s liking and forced her to prepare herself.

 _Why are we up so early?_ Ymir grumbled distastefully. She rested her head on her front paws and felt the car vibrate softly after Krista ignited the engine.

“Well, you managed to distract me enough with lazing around this past week and we haven’t been able to visit anyone else on the list.” Krista responded matter-of-factly and steered the car out of the driveway. Ymir just snorted. “So, who is ex number 6?”

_Her name is Megan. She owns a bakery in town. Do you know the place, it’s called Rose Bakery_ _?_

Krista’s eyes widened. “I do! I go there all the time. Does she own it or just work there?”

_Owns the place and lives there too. I met her there when I wondered in because of the wonderful smells._

Krista glanced over at the brunette with a tiny smile. “Sounds romantic. How did you end up sleeping with her?”

Ymir sighed and shifted to lie on her side. She had long since given up in not answering the blonde’s questions because she could be damn persistent.

_She was behind the counter and when she turned after hearing me approach I felt an instant attraction. She was beautiful, obviously, probably still is. After flirting endlessly with her I eventually bought something and left… with her number. I would visit occasionally in between my other conquests, girls I just chased and never got anywhere with, and Megan eventually grew to trust me. We were talking up in her apartment above the business_ _one day and I couldn’t control my desire to kiss her. One thing led to another and we ended up sleeping together. I left right after she fell asleep and never came back._

Krista frowned deeply. “Why does it sound like this is different?”

Ymir scoffed. _Different? You’re making things up here, shorty._

Krista tightened her hands on the steering wheel and remained silent after that, not knowing what to say or how to respond. She felt like Ymir was being defensive, but why?

Before long they reached town and Krista parked in one of the busy parking lots beside a section of the town, comprised of a small grocery shop and many food and sweet shops.

“Ready?” Krista asked. Ymir just huffed in response.

The blonde and the husky went into the shop named ‘Rose Bakery’, the bell above the door jingling lightly to announce their entrance, and Krista immediately walked up to the counter. A really beautiful blonde turned around from something she had been doing and smiled warmly at Krista.

“Hi, what can I do for you today?” She asked in an attractively husky and feminine voice. Krista gave her a sneaky once over and noted that she was average height, obviously taller than Krista, had light blonde hair to her shoulders tied up in a ponytail and startling green eyes. She wore a pink shirt with jeans and an apron with the ‘Rose Bakery’ title stitched to the front. All in all, she really was beautiful, just like Ymir had said she was.

“Uh, hi. I’m Krista. I hope you don’t mind my dog.” She pointed down at Ymir who was sitting beside her.

“Well, normally I don’t allow animals in here, but you seem to be here for more than just a treat, am I right?”

Krista blinked. “Actually, yes. I came to question you about someone. It’s Megan, right?”

The blonde nodded and smiled. “That determined look in your eyes gave it away. I can’t step away for just anything, though, so I’ll need to know what you wish to ask me about.”

Krista took a breath. Megan seemed really sweet and not at all like the other exes. In fact, she was the complete opposite of the other 5 women. It suddenly felt like a bad idea to lie to her so Krista swallowed and clasped her hands together. “Actually, I need to ask you a few things about Ymir.”

At the mention of the brunette’s name Megan’s eyes widened and she looked away. Krista thought she was about to be asked to leave but Megan pulled the apron off and beckoned for Krista to round the counter.

“Come with me to my upstairs apartment where we can talk in private.” Krista followed her towards the stairs she hadn’t noticed in the back but paused when Megan did. “Rob, can you please take over for me quick?” She called into the kitchen. Moments later a large blonde man resembling Megan quite a bit lumbered out of the kitchen and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. He seemed to have been planning an argument but his face suddenly changed. He flicked his eyes over to Krista, back to Megan’s face and then nodded.

“Alright, Meg. Take all the time you need.” He leaned forward and pressed a brotherly kiss to her forehead and then he gave Krista one last, hard stare and took a position by the counter.

“That’s my brother, Robert.” Megan clarified upon seeing Krista study him and then continued up the stairs. She unlocked the door and stepped in, closing it once Krista had entered too. Megan pointed to the couch. “Have a seat, I’ll be right back.”

Krista nodded and went to sit down on the comfortable couch while Megan disappeared into a hallway. The room was a lounge, dining room and kitchen all in one. The kitchen was only separated by counters and the lounge separated from the dining room by the couch. It was a very homely place, with family pictures on the walls, probably of Megan’s family, and warm colours around the room. The atmosphere put Krista to ease, though she still felt a bout of nervousness in her stomach. This visit felt a lot more serious and personal.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Megan returned to the room and sat on the single couch in front of the blue eyed blonde. “So, this is about Ymir?” Her hands tightened in her lap but her face remained calm.

“I’m sorry for showing up suddenly like this, but uh…” Krista wracked her brain for a plausible excuse. She didn’t feel comfortable with using the lies she had up until this point and wanted to come up with something at least slightly true, or at least hinting to a truth. Maybe even something that could possibly be true.

 _Why are you pausing like that? Aren’t you here to find out if I have killed someone or if someone has killed me, or something?_ Ymir grumbled into Krista’s mind. The husky had remained so silent since they entered the shop that Krista startled slightly and stifled a gasp. She had completely forgotten that Ymir was with her.

Krista swallowed. She had an idea. “Ymir is a close… friend of mine. I know about her past and everything.” Megan flinched slightly. Krista hoped she would explain what had happened between her and Ymir. “We had an argument a few days ago and she left saying she was going to visit an old friend. I'm trying to find her and I noticed your bakery so I thought I would come here to check if maybe she had decided to come here.”

Megan listened silently, eyes fixed to the floor. She heaved a soft sigh and bit her lip. “She wouldn’t come here. Not after what happened between us.” She left her response there, making Krista swallow her guilt and lean forward.

“What happened between you and her? I only know the small details…” She was probably being a jerk about it, but she couldn’t help but ask. Sure, it was for their search in the person that had cursed her, but Krista was now on another mission. She wanted to learn what had happened, exactly, to get to know a bit more of the brunette, even just slightly. This was definitely not just another fling that led to a psycho ex.

“I… I would rather not talk about it. Ymir never came here and I really doubt she will. If she does, though, I will contact you immediately.” Megan’s eyes looked saddened and her lip trembled, making Krista’s heart squeeze in guilt. The blue eyed blonde had to remember that she was doing this for Ymir, she couldn’t break down now and blurt out the actual situation just because she felt guilty. She did have to hold her tongue though to keep from repeatedly apologising.

“I’m sorry, I feel like a jerk for asking. I’ll go now.” Krista stood and made her way to the door after placing her card on the table. “Please contact me if she visits by any chance.”

“Wait,” Megan grabbed Krista’s wrist to stop her and nibbled on her lower lip for a moment before seemingly making up her mind and looking Krista in the eye. “If you are by any chance involved with her romantically, I warn you to be careful. She isn’t a bad person, but she has commitment issues. I won’t tell you the story, but I will say that I came to genuinely care about her. I thought she felt the same but she left me after getting what she had really wanted. I hold no ill feelings towards her for it, since I willingly gave that to her, but I do still have that hurt with me. She was drowning in her own destructive behaviour, and I only realized that after she left. Please, keep your distance because you are exactly her type and it would be a shame for such a nice girl like you to have a broken heart.”

Krista looked at her with a little lip tremble of her own but nodded her head. “Don’t worry, we’re only friends. I’m… I’m actually determined to help her, no matter the cost. I'm sorry for everything she did to you.”

Megan sighed but released Krista’s wrist, opened the door and smiled genuinely at her. “Thank you for trying to, but it isn’t you who needs to apologise. I promise that if she comes here I will contact you, and I'm sorry that I can’t help more than that.”

Krista hurriedly shook her head and waved her hands. “No! You’ve helped tons already. I need to leave right now, so I’ll just go and continue my search. Enjoy the rest of your day.” She left the apartment and made her way down the stairs, not looking back and not hearing following footsteps. She passed Robert and gave him a small smile as she passed. Thankfully he smiled back but turned to the stairs in puzzlement, a worried frown on his lips.

Krista burst out of the shop and went over to her car. She leaned against it and looked down at Ymir. In all of that emotional conversation she had forgotten about Ymir again.

“So, what happened exactly? This isn’t another crazy ex.” Krista demanded, glaring slightly down at Ymir. The dog sat down and glared right back.

_If you really want to know, then fine, I’ll tell you._

Krista wrapped her arms around herself and nodded slightly, indicating that she was waiting. Ymir sighed in irritation and prepared to tell the blonde about what had happened.

_After sleeping with her I left, but her brother caught up with me a while after. He… he told me a few things that really annoying the hell out of me._

Krista’s face remained thoughtful. “What did he say?”

XxX

A while later Ymir and finished telling the story and reluctantly sat there on the ground beside the blonde. They had relocated to the centre of town where a small garden and fountain sat with benches for shoppers to sit and rest. Ymir was resisting the intense urge to run, and smartly didn’t flee.

“Ymir…” Krista sighed and reached down to pet Ymir’s head.

 _What the hell are you doing?_ Ymir growled, both in her mind and audibly and jumped away from the touch. _Don’t touch me with that face full of pity. I don’t want you to pity me._

Krista slumped her shoulders and just shrugged. “Sorry.” She didn’t know what else to say. After hearing that tale she felt quite solemn, especially for Ymir’s sake. She wanted to just grab the brunette and hug her until she felt alright but she couldn’t because Ymir refused to let anyone actually help her.

Ymir finally glanced up and noticed that Krista had teary eyes. Her chest tightened slightly and she felt a twinge of guilt. She knew she was being an asshole, but she didn’t know how not to be. Hesitantly, Ymir scooted closer to Krista and leaned against her leg.

_Hey, don’t cry. I'm… sorry. I go into asshole mode when I'm upset._

Krista sniffled and wiped the moisture from her face. She beamed down at Ymir, so happy that she had decided to apologise. “I understand Ymir, I wasn’t upset about you being mean. I'm used to that by now.” Her smile faltered and she blushed slightly, looking away. Ymir raised an eyebrow. “C-could I maybe… hug you… please?”

Ymir immediately knew that saying yes was a very bad idea, for multiple reasons, but she was always a sucker for crying blondes. She sighed but bumped her head against Krista’s knee.

_Sure, but make it quick._

Krista refrained from smiling too brightly and quickly got down onto her knees so that she could wrap her arms around Ymir’s neck and give the husky a long, tight hug. She stroked her cheek against Ymir’s soft brown fur and purred slightly.

 _K-Krista… I think that’s e-enough…_ Ymir said into the blonde’s mind, her internal voice sounding strained. Krista ignored her, though, and just continued to hold her tightly and bury her face against her furry neck.

 _Krista… seriously… I…_ Ymir didn’t know how to explain it but struggled with all of her strength to get out of the blonde’s arms. She needed to get away from Krista. She couldn’t be so close to her body like that, for so long. When Ymir was about to resort to growling and barking, someone thankfully interrupted them and grabbed the blonde’s attention.

“Krista!”

Said blonde suddenly released Ymir and turned around in surprise. “Sasha!” She exclaimed happily and stood in time to get glomped by the brunette.

“It’s been soooo long, God.” Sasha whined and slipped down to her knees so that she could hug Krista around the waist and playfully sob.

“Still calling me that after all these years?” Krista asked with a laugh and gave Sasha a pat on the head.

“She will never forget the day you fed her after she suffered hours of being hungry in detention.” Mikasa spoke up, alerting the blonde that the girl on her knees wasn’t alone.

“She worships anyone that fed her through high school, though you’re the only one she calls ‘God’.” Armin offered with a laugh.

“It’s ‘cause Krista is so angelic!” Eren mocked and popped up behind Mikasa. “Hey Krista, it’s been way too long.”

Krista smiled warmly at her friends and laughed for a moment. She eventually got Sasha back onto her feet and gave all of them tight hugs.

“I’m so glad to see you all! I’m sorry for ignoring you guys for the past month. I’ve been so swamped with school work…” She paused. “And other things.”

Ymir’s ears twitched when she heard that, knowing that the blonde was referring to her. Now she was just a ‘thing’? A problem? Ymir growled deeply in her chest and looked off to the side, not wanting to watch the stupid friendly interaction. It was bad enough that her body was burning once more, worryingly so, but now she was angered again.

“Oh hey, is this the dog Petra mentioned?” Sasha spoke up, noticing the sulking husky behind Krista.

“Yeah, I, uh, found her. She’s a stray, I think, and I’m still trying to find a home for her.” Krista responded and sent a worried glance over to Ymir. The brunette caught it and rolled her eyes.

_I won’t bite, don’t worry, Princess._

Sasha was about to happily launch herself at the dog but Mikasa tugged her hand and sighed in exasperation. “Sasha, we don’t have time for you to roll around with Krista’s dog. We need to meet the others, remember? We’re going for lunch.”

Sasha smiled brightly at the mention of food and started tugging Mikasa with her towards the direction they had been going before noticing Krista. “Then let’s goooo. I don’t want to be late!” the light brunette whined, making Mikasa roll her eyes but smile softly.

“Sorry Krista, but we have to go.” Mikasa managed to say before she had been pulled away.

Krista turned to the guys questioningly. “The others?”

“Oh, yeah!” Armin said. “We’re going to meet up with Petra, Annie and Berthold at that restaurant Sasha loves. Since Bert is in town we decided to gather. We would have invited you but we weren’t sure if you were still busy with school, and we know how bad you feel when you can’t hang out with us.”

Krista smiled in appreciation for the thought. She realized that she had been so occupied with her own little bubble consisting of school and Ymir that she had neglected the other people in her life.

“Would you like to join us? Bert will be ecstatic as hell to see you too.” Eren suggested with a grin. He flung an arm over Armin’s shoulder and stared expectantly at Krista.

The blonde smiled. “Of course.” She glanced down at Ymir. “I know where the restaurant is, so I’ll catch up with you guys if that’s okay. I just have something to take care of quickly.”

Armin and Eren smiled and nodded and then headed off in the direction the couple had disappeared into.

“Ymir…” Krista reached out for the brunette but Ymir backed away, avoiding her touch. “Ymir?”

_You wanna hang out with your friends, right? I’m in the way, so I’ll just walk home._

The husky turned to leave but Krista quickly stepped in front of her to stop her. “No! I was going to ask if you wouldn’t mind coming with me. If you don’t want to then we can just go home, my friends will understand.” Krista held her arms out, determined not to let Ymir around her. If it came down to it she could even tackle her.

Ymir studied Krista’s face for a moment, waiting to see a change in the determination and hope in her eyes, but there was none and she felt her pulse quicken even more. Ymir let her ears fold against her head and looked up at Krista, almost hesitantly.

 _Really?_ She asked. _You wouldn’t mind having me around there, even though I'm annoying? I thought you would have wanted to be rid of me by now._

Krista shook her head. “You never annoy me. I want you around, Ymir.” She blushed slightly, not willing to admit to herself how true that statement really was and the things it made her feel.

Ymir’s ears perked again, and if she could she would have smirked. _Well then, let’s go and pretend like I'm not a freakin’ shape shifter or whatever. Think your friends will coo at me?_

Krista giggled at the mental imagine. They started walking together and Krista smiled, glad that Ymir’s bad mood had seemed to disappear and she was teasing again. “Well, you are adorable so they probably will. Bert just loves dogs, too. He’s so big but he’s a gentle giant.”

Ymir raised an eyebrow. She didn’t comment, though, and just walked silently beside Krista.

“So, can I ask you something?” Krista inevitably spoke up. She never could seem to keep the silence, which annoyed Ymir most of the time.

 _You already did._ Ymir responded sarcastically.

“Ymiiiir, I know. But seriously.”

Ymir would have smiled, but couldn’t. _Sure then, go ahead. It’s not like I could stop you anyway._

Krista had to agree with the brunette. Since she was so damn stubborn, Krista had to develop an ability to bother and pester her until she gave up and answered a question of hers. So far it was working and Ymir only stayed stubborn for a little bit until she gave up with a sigh.

“What did my hug feel like?” Krista asked with a blush and looked away.

_Like a hug…?_

“Ymir, you’re pointing out the obvious.”

_Well how else is a hug supposed to feel?!_

“Was it warm, or nice?” Krista didn’t even really know why she was asking this.

Ymir grumbled softly and looked at the ground. _Yeah sure… guess it was nice…_ She responded softly.

“Really? Can I hug you again?” Krista asked hopefully, prepared to get right back down onto her knees again.

 _NO!_ Ymir responded forcefully, making Krista flinch and blink back sudden tears. Ymir noticed this and sighed. _No… I don’t mean… Krista… it’s…_ She tried to think of a way to explain why the blonde couldn’t hug her, but it was providing to be difficult.

Krista glanced over at Ymir and finally noticed that she was panting quite heavily. Her fur even looked slight damp with… sweat?

“Ymir, what’s wrong?” Krista crouched down in front of her and grabbed Ymir’s head, forcing her to look into her eyes.

Ymir grit her teeth. _Nothing._

“It isn’t nothing. Do you have another fever? What’s wrong?”

_I said there’s nothing wrong!_

“You know that I can see right through you. I refuse to go anywhere if you aren’t feeling well.”

Ymir sighed and rolled her eyes. _Don’t be stupid and sacrifice a day with your friends for me. I'm fine and that’s it._ But as she said that Ymir shook violently because of her own body temperature, no longer able to hide it anymore. She saw Krista’s frown and sighed. _Okay, fine. I’ve been burning up for a while now and_ _I think I’m about to transform._

“Now?” Krista gasped.

_A while ago, actually. I’ve trying to hold it back._

“I didn’t know you can do that. We should get you home though, right now.”

 _No_ , Ymir said stubbornly, _this is why I didn’t want to tell you. I can hold it off until we get home._

“Ymir!” Krista said sternly and stood, arms outstretched towards the dog. “I’m taking you home right now!”

Ymir growled and backed up. She turned and prepared to run off but Krista suddenly tackled her and they ended up rolling off of the sidewalk and into a bunch of bushes. There was an open area in the middle of the bushes, perfectly hidden. They rolled right into the centre, with Krista on her back and Ymir standing over her.

Ymir swallowed. Crap, this position was making her body heat even more. She couldn’t hold it in anymore and the second she looked into Krista’s face and saw the deep blush there, her control completely slipped and Ymir felt her body morph back into proper human form.

“Y-Ymir?” Krista squeaked out and watched as Ymir changed within seconds, surrounded by slight steam that rolled off of her bronze skin and rose into the sky.

“Shit.” Ymir exclaimed and looked down at Krista. She was now lying on top of her, naked. That in itself wasn’t really the problem, but they were in public and Ymir wasn’t able to change herself at will, if that was even possible. Neither of them really had time to be embarrassed, because there was a sudden rustling of the bushes behind Ymir and then a voice called out.

“Krista?! We saw you fall in here! Are you okay?”

Ymir lifted herself off of Krista, either forgetting or not caring about her nakedness and prepared to step out of the bushes. Before she could properly get onto her feet, though, Krista squeaked in horror and latched herself to Ymir’s front. She had her arms wrapped around her torso just under her armpits and her legs wrapped around her upper thighs, koala’ing the now very surprised and very flushed brunette.

Eren moved some branches to the side and popped his head in, and then promptly gasped and fell over. “K-Krista?!” He shouted in surprise.

Krista groaned internally, both from realizing that her cheek was pressed up against Ymir’s warm chest, right above her breasts, and her front was firmly pressed against the taller woman’s, feeling every muscle ripple against her, and from the embarrassment of her friends seeing them in this position.

“Eren?” Armin asked in alarm and helped his friend to his feet. “What happened?” He turned to look at what had startled Eren so much and his eyes grew wide. “Oh…”

Ymir rolled her eyes, not impressed, and stepped confidently out of the cover of the bushes with Krista still attached to her front, covering most of her naked body. She glared at the two guys staring at her and gaping at Krista, and cocked an eyebrow.

“So, hi,” she said lowly, making Krista shiver with the rumble of her chest. “I’m Ymir.”


	11. Chapter 11

Krista tried to regulate her breathing as she walked next to a slouching, human Ymir. The brunette looked bored and had her hands stuffed into the pockets of her newly bought black pants.

When Krista had calmed herself enough she introduced Ymir as her nudist neighbour once more. People had gapped and pointed at the fully nude brunette so none of them had the time to stand there and marvel.

Armin quickly led them to the closest clothes shop and Krista bought an outfit for Ymir, which consisted of a long sleeved grey shirt, black pants and black and white sneakers – underwear included, of course. Instead of going home right after, though, they ended up going with Eren and Armin to meet up with the others. Ymir was being stubborn and refused to go, making Krista a panicked mess because the brunette could turn at any second and she knew there would be no way to properly explain it if that happened. Ymir did say that she would always feel the change coming a minute or two before it happened, so if she felt it she could quickly escape to a bathroom or something. That wasn’t enough to calm the blonde’s nerves though.

Besides the panic of public discovery, Krista felt her own body temperature rise and she couldn’t stop staring at Ymir. It was rare to glance _up_ at her face and see those annoyed but gorgeous brown eye and the sprinkle of freckles during the daylight. Krista was so used to spending after midnights with the human Ymir.

In front of them Armin glanced back and gave Ymir a quick suspicious once over. He returned forward and leaned over to whisper something to Eren. Neither of them believed the whole explanation Krista had given them, at least, they thought there was more to it. Armin was the one that really thought the whole thing was more peculiar than it looked and Eren was just upset that Krista was associated with a nudist. Since they were small children Eren had felt insanely protective over not just Krista, but his other friends and family as well. He did not like the tall brunette or the bad vibes rolling off of her. But Krista wasn’t stupid, he knew that, and he did not want to hurt the blonde by insulting her friend. He did have to grit his teeth to keep his comments to himself, though.

Ymir straightened and glanced over at the nervous and trembling blonde. She could see her hands shaking even all the way up at her height. She frowned. “Krista, why are you so anxious?” she asked softly and glared at Eren when he turned at the sound of her voice. Eren just glared back and turned back around.

“Do you really need to ask?” Krista replied in a hurried whisper. She couldn’t meet Ymir’s gaze because her heart was already hammering and looking into Ymir’s intense eyes made her body even hotter. There was just this magnetic pull, this strong force behind the brunette’s brown eyes whenever she gazed into the blonde’s blues.

“Whatever.” Ymir responded and glared forward.

A few minutes later they reached the restaurant and found the others seated at a big table at the outside area that also acted as the smoking area. They quickly approached the table and greeted everyone.

Petra glanced up when they reached the table, smiled brightly upon seeing Krista, and then rose her eyebrows and her eyes widened in surprise when she noticed Ymir’s tall figure.

Ymir noticed and felt the urge to insult Petra but Krista grabbed her arm, stopping her. The brunette glanced down into Krista’s pleading eyes and sighed.

“Behave, please?”

“Fine.” Ymir shifted her gaze and decided to ignore everyone else.

By this time Armin had taken a seat beside Annie who asked him about the new guest. He told her what had happened and Annie stared long and hard at Ymir. She shrugged her shoulders, deciding that Krista was responsible for whatever took place with the suspicious looking person.

Eren had taken a seat next to Mikasa and Sasha, who were both looking curiously at Ymir. Mikasa had more of a blankly curious look while Sasha openly gapped like a fish.

“Eren! Who is the tall person?” Sasha asked her brother-in-law, still gaping openly at said tall person.

Eren growled softly, crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “Ask Krista yourself. She should introduce everyone to her new _friend_.” Mikasa raised an eyebrow at Eren’s tone and know instantly that he was feeling protective over Krista.

“Krista!” Sasha called out cheerfully and waved at the blonde.

Ymir and Krista had taken a seat, Krista next to Petra and Ymir next to Krista at the end of the table. The brunette simply slumped down in the chair and stared of to the side, unimpressed. Krista glanced at her worriedly the entire time and took a few seconds to realize Sasha was calling for her.

“Who is the tall person?” Sasha asked after Krista finally turned to her.

Ymir didn’t respond to that and only quirked an eyebrow, leaving Krista to do the introduction. Krista sighed softly and gave the group a nervous smile. She was about to answer, but then she noticed that something was missing. “Where’s Berthold?” she asked.

“He got a call from Reiner and stepped away for a moment. He should be back soon.” Mikasa answered before anyone else could. “So, who is your guest?” the black haired woman pressed, just as intrigued as everyone else to have the blonde properly introduce her.

“I’m Ymir. Not ‘guest’ or ‘tall person’” Ymir grumbled without looking at anyone.

Krista sighed deeply and tapped Ymir’s elbow to get her attention. “Don’t give them attitude, please? You insisted that we come,” she whispered softly into Ymir’s ear. Ymir just rolled her eyes and huffed in agreement. She returned to her previous position and stared off into space again.

The group watched their interaction with interest. Krista wasn’t known for making new friends because she was quite timid and most of the time only interested in her studies. The fact that she had met and become close to another person pleasantly surprised all of them. And by the looks of it, Ymir and Krista were quite close already.

“So this is Ymir, a neighbour. We’ve been hanging out lately.” Krista said and forced a cheerful smile. It was difficult to act like she wasn’t starting to burn up on the inside and wondered again why Ymir was being so difficult and making them stay through this torture.

 Petra’s surprise had not dissipated since she had spotted Ymir. She narrowed her eyes slightly while staring at the two, but chose not to ask anything because she knew she wouldn’t be answered anyway.

Before anyone else could chip in about Ymir, Berthold returned and greeted the rest of the group with his usual cheerful smile. Krista smiled brightly and stood up to give the giant of a man an equally giant hug.

“Krista!” Berthold exclaimed happily and lifted Krista out of her chair and high up into his arms. The blonde giggled and hugged him back and then demanded that she be put back onto her feet. “It’s been too long.” He smiled gently and gave her one more quick hug.

“It really has. I'm sorry that I haven’t called or anything, I’ve just been really busy.”

Berthold waved his hand. “It’s okay, really. I wouldn’t want to bother you anyway.” He sighed happily and then finally noticed the burning brown eyes glaring holes into him. His smile faltered and he sent a questioning look at Krista.

“Oh, uh, this…” Krista tugged at Ymir’s shirt to get her to stand up and smiled in appreciation when she did. “Is Ymir,” she introduced. “Ymir, this is another childhood friend of mine, Berthold. Please greet him properly.”

Ymir shifted uncomfortably and only spared a second to look up into his eyes, not used to experiencing someone that much taller than her. She was usually the tall one. After the awkward eye contact she looked off to the side and reluctantly shook his big hand.

“Hello Ymir, it’s nice to meet you. How do you know Krista?”

“Yeah, hi.” Ymir pulled her hand free and wiped it off on her shirt. She dropped back into her seat and folded her arms across her chest.

Krista would have been upset with Ymir’s rudeness, but she noticed the brunette’s chest constantly heaving like she was struggling to breathe. Upon further study she saw Ymir’s face was flushed and she had beads of sweat trickling down her temples and neck. She was probably in a lot of pain.

“She’s not feeling very well, sorry for her manners. She’s a neighbour and we’ve recently started hanging out. How is Reiner?” Krista asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Berthold accepted her explanation with a nod and took a seat at the end of the table. “He’s doing fine, actually. Hopefully he’ll be coming home soon.”

“How long has it been?” Armin asked when he noticed Berthold’s sad smile.

“About a year and 6 months now.”

The others started up conversation about Reiner, giving Krista the opportunity to scoot her chair closer to Ymir and place a hand on her forehead. Ymir was about to swat it away but she was suddenly pulled down by the front of her shirt and a pair of soft lips pressed against the hot skin of her forehead. Without saying anything Krista turned to the waitress that had suddenly appeared and whispered a few words to her. The waitress gave her a strange look and then hurried off.

“What are you doing?” Ymir demanded, not liking Krista’s suspicious behaviour.

“You’re burning up even more.” Krista pointed out. The waitress returned and handed a cloth and a glass of ice to the blonde. “So I’m going to take care of you.” She wrapped a few ice blocks in the cloth and started wiping along Ymir’s face.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Ymir yelled in a whisper and leaned away from the cloth.

Krista lowered her arm and sent a glare at Ymir. “You insisted that we come here even though you feel terrible.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So at least let me help you. If we can’t go home then that means you can’t take a cold shower to cool down the heat. You must be in a lot of pain.”

Ymir rolled her eyes and pouted. “Whatever.”

Krista smiled and went to work on dabbing the cold cloth against Ymir’s sweating skin until the ice had melted. When the waitress returned she ordered a few steaks for Ymir, ignoring the brunette’s whine that she could do it herself, and forced Ymir to stay still as she tended to her.  

“Feeling better?” Krista asked and folded the cloth neatly. She placed it down beside the empty glass that had contained the ice and pushed the glass away.

Ymir cleared her throat and thought about being honest but felt strangely guilty. She saw the hopeful look in Krista’s eyes and nervously scratched her cheek. “Yeah, thanks. It helped.”

Krista sighed in relief. “If it gets worse then we will leave, okay?”

Ymir opened her mouth to protest and then closed it. Why was she even doing this?

The waitress returned with a tray of their food and distributed it out across the table. It took a few trips and a second waiter’s helps but eventually everyone had their drinks and food. Ymir was thinking of being stubborn about eating, but the moment she smelt the meat placed in front of her, her stomach growled painfully and she went into a trance. They were three big, juicy steaks and she tore into them with fervour. Everyone else at the table paused to watch her in surprise as she wolfed the food down. It didn’t even take a minute until it was done and she slumped forward in relief. Krista just giggled and smiled fondly. She ran a comforting hand down Ymir’s back and leaned against her.

“Feeling better still?”

Ymir turned her head to give Krista a grin. “Yeah.”

“Good.” Krista noticed all eyes on them and blushed. “She has a big appetite…” she explained. Ymir just shrugged and returned to sitting slumped down in the chair with her arms crossed over her chest. It felt surprisingly good to be human during the daylight, despite the fever burning her up. She was trying her utmost to hide it from Krista, but it was becoming more difficult the longer they stayed.

Krista hardly paid attention to anyone other than Ymir, and everyone including Ymir noticed this.

“How are you feeling now?” Krista asked in concern. All of their meals and desserts had been eaten and the table was cleared. The group was in the process of breaking the bill and each paid for their own meals. “You’re sweating even more now,” she pointed out.

Ymir nodded and stood. She grabbed Krista’s hand, pulled her out of her chair and made her way for the door.

“Krista?!” Berthold called out.

“Sorry Bert! Everyone, I have to go! Thanks for the afternoon.” Krista called back before she was out of earshot. Everyone just smiled and waved back, though Petra added a raised eyebrow as she still wondered who Ymir really was and what she and Krista were up to.

Once outside of the restaurant they walked towards the parking lot where Krista’s car waited, Ymir not dropping Krista’s hand.

“Why did you do that?” Krista asked.

“Do what? Drag you out?”

 “No, why did you make us sit with them for the past hour?”

Ymir dropped Krista’s hand and waited for the blonde to unlock her car. She didn’t answer until they were both seated and Krista started the car. “I didn’t want to continue keeping you away from your friends.” Ymir grumbled softly, too low for Krista to hear.

The blonde navigated the car out of the parking lot and down the road, in the direction of her house. “Speak up Ymir. I can’t hear when you’re mumbling.”

Ymir rolled her eyes. “I said that I didn’t want to keep you from your friends.” she responded louder with a slight blush on her freckles.

“You don’t.”

“Oh really? Because of me and my weird dog thing, you’ve barely left the house in a whole month.” Ymir scowled and glared out of the window. She didn’t like having to admit this and had to supress the urge to be mean to stop the conversation.

“That’s because I wanted to stay home with you. I also want to stay home to study, so none of this is because of you. The few breaks I took were actually because of you, because I normally study until I drop and I don’t have anyone to tell me when to stop.” Krista gave Ymir a quick glance. “So you don’t need to feel guilty about anything.”

“Guilty?” Ymir scoffed. “I’m not guilty. Just didn’t want to owe you, is all.”

Krista smiled softly at the obvious lie. “Whatever you say. How’s the fever?”

“Fevering away.”

“When we get home I’ll get another cloth and wipe you down again, or you can take a shower.”

Ymir pressed her mouth against her palm and hid her smile. “I’ll shower. I don’t need you feeling my body up every day.”

Krista blushed. “I-I don’t!”

“Sure.” Ymir gave Krista a look and wiggled her eyebrows. “Like you’re not hot for me.” She smirked brightly when Krista’s face reddened even more.

Luckily they made it to Krista’s house and she jumped out after parking the car. Escaping the embarrassing teasing, Krista hurried into the house and went into the bathroom to start the shower for Ymir.

Krista swallowed. She was. She was hot for Ymir. She had been for a while now and finally admitted it to herself. After spending the day with a human Ymir, she realized her attraction was getting out of hand. Ymir wasn’t the only one suffering that fever, Krista was too. She felt an intense pull towards the brunette and had to resist the urge to kiss her with every bit of strength she had. But why? Why was she so damn attracted to Ymir?

Maybe it was her tall, toned body, or her darkly tanned, smooth skin. Could it be those sexy freckles, or the attractive intensity in her eyes? Was it her eyes that burned right through Krista and made her want to melt?

Krista shivered.  She walked out of the bathroom and into her bedroom to get a pair of boxers and a shirt for the brunette. She noted that she should ask Ymir if she wanted to buy a few more outfits, for if this strange occurrence happened again and Ymir found herself human during the day.

“You know,” Ymir spoke up from the bedroom doorway, startling Krista into dropping the clothes from her hands. “It feels good, but almost weird walking on two legs for so long.” Ymir pushed off from where she had been leaning against the doorframe and brushed against Krista as she leaned down to pick up the clothes. “It feels…” She stood up, brushing up against Krista again and swallowing hard after realizing that she had unintentionally put them in a compromising position. They were standing dangerously close and Krista looked up into Ymir’s flustered face.

Their eyes locked and it was as if some event had just been cemented into place, whether either of them liked it or not. But they did. Ymir reached out and caressed Krista’s cheek. “Almost…” she husked softly, breathing in short, irregular gasps. “Kind of…” Krista could only stare like a lost puppy, knees shaking and weak. She hesitantly grabbed the front of Ymir’s shirt to steady herself and ended up leaning against her chest, bringing them even closer together. Ymir leaned down and titled Krista’s head up with a finger underneath her chin. “Foreign…” she finally concluded her long running sentence and wrapped an arm around Krista’s waist, pulling her up and against her body.

“Ymir?”

“I can’t…” The sentence died on her lips as she pressed them softly to Krista’s, eliciting a soft whimper from the blonde.

They kissed softly, both too afraid to really kiss back because it felt like with one move they’d both explode. But Krista couldn’t hold herself back anymore and kissed back harder. Ymir responded with a growl and backed Krista up until she pressed her up against the wall and placed a hand underneath her thigh, pulling Krista’s leg up against her.

Krista’s mind was running with thoughts as she felt Ymir’s hand stroke her stomach and her lips burn against her own. It felt so amazingly wonderful that Krista wanted to let go and to let Ymir kiss her until they were both blue in the face. And she almost let her.

When Ymir slipped her hand underneath her shirt and caressed her smooth stomach, it sent a strong jolt through Krista that brought her back to her senses.

“Ymir, no…” She pushed against Ymir’s chest and the brunette immediately pulled back, panting and dishevelled.

“What’s wrong?”

Krista nearly kissed her again when she saw the genuine concern in her eyes, but she pushed Ymir back even further and forced her heart to calm down. “You, uh, should take a shower.” She quickly made her way to the door but Ymir grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

“Wait. Why?”

Krista didn’t look back, but she swore she could hear hurt and rejection in Ymir’s tone. “I’ll make dinner for us later but I need some time alone right now to do some studying.” She gently pulled her wrist free and Ymir let her. “Hope the shower helps.” Krista left the room, fighting with all her strength not to turn around and push Ymir right up against the wall where they had been just a moment ago. But she couldn’t. In all her time knowing the brunette she had learnt one thing. Once Ymir slept with someone, she lost all interest.

Krista didn’t care if Ymir only wanted her body, or if she was just doing this because of the curse or to pay her back for her kindness, or something, but she did not want anything between them to change. She did want Ymir, she could definitely admit that now, but she cared enough to keep her distance. Ymir could always do better, and she really did cherish their friendship. Whatever that was, it could never happen again or become something more.

As Krista left, Ymir watched her back with clenched teeth and a fire in her eyes. She growled, almost loud enough for Krista to hear, and violently kicked the wall. She felt no pain at all but did feel satisfied at the loud crunch as her shoe crashed into the wall and created a hole. It didn’t even matter that she had somehow kicked a hole through a brick wall without feeling a thing.

Ymir took deep breaths and stalked into the bathroom, angrily throwing her clothes off as she went. The shower had been on the entire time so all Ymir had to do was step under the spray of freezing water. Once under the cool liquid, Ymir’s anger immediately melted and she pressed her forehead against the glass door. She pressed her fist beside her head and slowly spread her fingers out. She watched her long fingers uncurl and sighed softly to herself. There was a tightening in her chest, and then she lightly bumped her head against the glass to clear her mind.

“Doesn’t matter,” she muttered tonelessly to herself. “Never fucking matters.”


	12. Chapter 12

Ymir’s eyes fluttered as she woke and stared up at the boring, grey ceiling. For a moment she lay in blissful peace, but then the events of the previous few days flooded into her mind and she covered her face with an arm. She sighed deeply with a frown and forced the memories out of her mind.

Ymir uncovered her face and then climbed out of bed, made her way into the bathroom down the hall and stripped out of her t-shirt and underwear. She turned the shower on and climbed in, sighing in relief this time as the warm water washed the sweat and guilt from her body. Worrying about useless stuff wouldn’t help her. Feeling guilty would only way her down. Ymir didn’t have time for useless emotions such as those.

Now clean and somewhat clear minded, Ymir shut the shower off and dried herself with a towel once she stepped out. After she was properly dry she went into her bedroom, and then dressed in a pair of dark blue jean shorts and a sleeveless black shirt. It was damn hot and she wasn’t planning on going out anywhere. Ymir liked to spend her Saturdays watching TV – alone.

The tall woman finished brushing her short brown hair and then paused to study her freckles in the mirror. She looked into her own eyes and then looked away, unable to look at what she was reflected back at her so openly.

It was quiet in the apartment, almost hair-pullingly so. There was no one other than Ymir living there because she much preferred the solitary life than to invite someone to annoy and stress her out. She was rarely even lonely.

Ymir eventually plopped down onto her couch and turned the TV on after she had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. A quick glance at the clock above the TV told her that it was only 11 a.m.

Before she could even settle in to waste the morning on TV the house phone rang and Ymir leaned over to snatch the phone off of the table beside the couch. She didn’t bother to check who the caller was and answered with a gruff greeting and settled back against the couch, arm stretched out on the backrest and one foot resting on the coffee table with her leg bent and resting over the other.

“Hello?”

“Ymir, it’s been a while.”

Ymir immediately tensed up when she heard the familiar voice. She clenched her teeth together and balled her free hand into a very tight fist.

“Missing me already?” she replied dryly.

“I wouldn’t quite say that,” the person responded with displeased amusement.

“What the fuck do you want?” Ymir growled and resisted the urge to put the phone down.

“It’s dad’s birthday tomorrow,” the person said. “I figured I’d call to let you know.”

Ymir rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Like I give a fuck. You haven’t contacted me in 10 years, so why now?”

The person sighed like this response had been expected, and it probably had been. “He’s sick, Ymir. He doesn’t have a lot of time left. The least you can do is show your face to him before he croaks.”

“The fucker can die, I don’t give a shit. You know why and you are a fucking asshole for calling me. Do you need money, is that it? Daddy is going to die and now you don’t have easy money, so why not call Ymir and leech off of her too?”

“Like I’d go to you for financial help. You probably live on the streets anyway. Someone like you can’t possibly amount to something.”

“Fuck you.”

“No, fuck you Ymir. You owe dad an apology and the least you can do is show up and give him some respect.”

“An apology?” Ymir’s hand tightened around the phone to the point that it cracked slightly. A vein popped out on her neck and her face flushed with anger. “Listen here, you little fucker. I owe that bastard a bullet in the head. I can’t believe you actually had the balls to call me. You and that man can fuck off together. You deserve each other!” Ymir yelled, ended the call and then threw the phone into the wall to her right, smashing the phone to pieces. ”Fuck!” Ymir growled in anger and covered her face with her hands. She took a series of deep breaths to calm her racing pulse.

Just as she had gotten her anger under control the doorbell rang. Ymir’s annoyance spiked and she stormed over to the door and opened it roughly.

“Yes?” she growled out and glared holes into the big blonde man standing by her doorstep.

“Ymir.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Ymir tried to, but she couldn’t seem to keep her anger from rising or showing.

“My name is Robert.”

“What do you want?”

Robert gave Ymir a hard look, his lips pressed together in a thin, pale line. He seemed deeply troubled with dark circles under his eyes but he also appeared quite upset and angry. “I’m Megan’s brother.”

At the mention of his sister’s name, Ymir’s eyes suddenly widened, her face drained of colour and she looked pained, but then her expression shifted and she looked off to the side, face empty and void.

“I’ll ask again, what do you want?”

Robert sucked in a deep breath and clenched his hands together. “Don’t you feel any remorse at all?” he yelled, hurt and enraged. “I came here to ask why the fuck you hurt my sister the way you did!”

“Is that all?” Ymir turned and gave him a hard stare.

“Is that all you can say? No apology? No explanation?” He clenched and unclenched his hands and jaw, nostrils flaring and face flushing.

“I owe no one an explanation. She let me fuck her so I did. I never promised to stay. This is her own fault. Now can you please leave?”

Robert completely froze for a few seconds, making Ymir roll her eyes and make a move to shut the door in his face since it seemed like he wasn’t going to leave. Before she could close the door it was pushed open, Robert came flying inside and Ymir felt a fist connect with her jaw. Her head whipped back with the force and she stumbled backwards a few steps.

Ymir looked up in time to see his fist again but was too slow to dodge it, and had to take the big hand colliding with the side of her face. Ymir fell to the floor and flinched, expecting a kick or something, but nothing came and she remained there on the floor.

“You stay away from my sister.” Robert said softly. When Ymir chanced a glance up at him, she saw shock and anguish in his eyes. He hadn’t expected to hit her, but once he had he lost control. There were tears in his eyes and flowing down his face. “Don’t you ever come near her again. I had to hold her while she broke into pieces and cried for days! You don’t even deserve to have her cry for you! You don’t deserve any form of happiness or love.” He breathed deeply, fists shaking at his sides. “She –”

“Get out!” Ymir shouted. She had gotten onto her hands and knees and stared down at the floor with angry eyes. Small drops of blood dripped from her lip and onto the floor, beside one or two clear drops that shouldn’t have been there.

“You–”

“Just get the fuck out. NOW! I will never fucking come near her. So leave. Or do you want to punch me around some more?!” Ymir’s whole body trembled.

Robert watched her tall, shaking form on the ground. He saw her tightly clenched hands tremble and the blood collecting on the floor. He felt a slight twinge of guilt for physically harming her, and hated himself for feeling it. Without another word he disappeared, satisfied with the knowledge that whether it was the punch or the words, Ymir understood.

He could see that she understood it all very well, and she hated herself for it.

Ymir waited a long while after his footsteps disappeared before she stood and lamely pushed the door shut. She felt as if all her strength had been drained, and walked limply to the bathroom. Besides the swelling to her lower jaw and cheekbone, she also had a terribly cut lip that was still bleeding and a few cuts and scrapes from when she had fallen. Her fist was bruised since she had knocked it on the hard floor, so she struggled to remove the first aid kit from the bathroom cabinet. It was even more trying to clean her few wounds and bandage what she could.

After an hour of struggling, which was also due to her trembling hands, Ymir took a few pills for her pounding headache and aching heart. She decided to go back to bed, not feeling up to staying awake and being with herself.

Never before then had she ever felt this way, and wished that she wasn’t alone.

XxX

Ymir woke with a start and whimpered loudly as she shot up. She looked around in panic, breathing hard, and then calmed when she realized it was just a dream. She was still in Krista’s house, sleeping on the couch in her dog form.

She relaxed back onto the seat and breathed through her nose.

Why had she dreamed of that? Why did she have to relive that terrible memory? It was probably because of the recent visit to Megan, and the events after.

 _What am I even doing?_ Ymir asked herself. She remembered what had happened the day before, when she had lost control and attempted to make Krista hers. It was something she had been intensely resisting since the moment she met the blonde. The pull was almost painful. Not touching Krista was painful. Not looking at her made Ymir ache. Sure, Krista annoyed her a lot of the time, but Ymir had grown to care about her, and need her. Ymir was done wondering if it was real emotions or something created by the weird curse.

All she knew is that she wanted Krista so bad that she ached inside. Not just physically, but with everything else. But she couldn’t give in to that, to her longing. For this one moment in her life, Ymir didn’t want to pursue someone. She didn’t want to trouble Krista more, and now she was determined to work with Krista to get rid of the curse and leave the blonde alone.

Ymir would be okay once she left, she was used to being alone. She just wasn’t used to feeling depressed at being unwanted.

“Ymir, are you okay?” Krista asked softly as she came into the lounge. She had heard the strangled whimper and woke almost instinctively. The moment she realized Ymir could be in pain she tumbled out of bed and hurried into the lounge. At first she had paused because of her fear. She wasn’t sure if Ymir would be upset with her about the rejection of the previous day, and she also didn’t know how to face her after doing that. But she wanted to stay Ymir’s friend, and avoiding her wouldn’t ensure that.

Ymir sat up and glanced at Krista. Her heart skipped a beat for a second and her body began to burn. Krista looked so cute and sexy at the same time, with her hair dishevelled, her long shirt covering her pink boxers that it almost looked like a dress, and her sleepy but worried face.

_I’m fine, just a bad dream._

Krista glanced at the clock. It was 11 p.m. Ymir would change soon. Krista went over to the couch and sat down beside the husky. She yawned and stretched her small body, and then took some of the blanket she had draped over Ymir much earlier that night and curled up close to her.

“Would you like to talk about it?”

Ymir shook her head. _Just an odd dream._ The brunette looked off to the side, uncomfortable.

“U-um, Ymir… about yesterday…”

 _I want to know._ Ymir interrupted.

Krista blinked and swallowed. “Know what?”

_More about you. Is it okay if I ask you questions?_

Krista grew still and stared at Ymir with wide eyes. Was she asking to know more about her? Did she really want to ask Krista questions about herself? “Um…” Krista swallowed the sudden dryness from her throat. “If you want to, of course.”

 _Do you have any siblings?_ Ymir didn’t even wait a beat before she started, not even sure herself of why she was so eager to ask and why she wanted to know so badly. Perhaps it was that if she couldn’t get as close to Krista as she wanted, then she could at least still be her friend, which was as close as she could get.

“I don’t, I’m an only child.”

_Parents?_

“Well… not really… it’s sort of a complicated story.”

_I wouldn’t mind listening… I mean, I need to know who I'm using, right? For all I know you could be a murderer._

“Since when did you worry? You’ve been content to sleep in my house and eat my food without even wanting to know my name.”

_Meh, changed my mind._

Krista giggled. “Okay, I don’t mind telling you. So, my father is a really famous business man. I don’t know who he is and I’ve never met him. The reason is that he had an affair with my mother, and I was conceived. He never wanted people to find out that he betrayed his trophy wife, so he paid my mother off. She wasn’t allowed to ever tell me who he was but she made sure to let me know that he wasn’t even worth getting to know. She was naïve and weak to his charms when they first met, and she thought he would have left his wife for her, or would have at least been in my life. But he chose the coward’s way out, and she lost all respect for him.”

_Oooh, so you have some daddy issues._

“I don’t. I’m curious to know who he is, sometimes, but I’ve made my piece with it.”

_Where’s your mother now?_

“Oh, uh… she died a few years back.”

Ymir scooted a bit closer to Krista and bumped her shoulder with her head. She suddenly felt like an ass for asking these questions. _Sorry, I’ll stop prying._

Krista risked giving Ymir a quick hug, and smiled in relief when she didn’t pull back. “No, don’t apologise. Like with my father I’ve made peace with it.”

_Can I ask some more then?_

“Ask as many questions as you want.” Krista smiled brightly and felt her heart swell. She had always assumed that Ymir would make it extra hard for them to talk like this. She thought she would never have the brunette ask her questions like this. It made Krista want to cry in happiness, but she didn’t because she knew that would freak Ymir out and worry her.

_How old were you when your mother died?_

“I was 16. My grandparents had died many years ago, so I never knew them either. I had no family to go to, but then I found out that a distant aunt lived in the area and I went to her for help. That’s how I met my cousin, Petra. They took me in happily and let me live there until I was able to move out. The second I could get a job and support myself, I moved out.”

_So how are you paying for university?_

“My father is paying for it. I got a letter in the post one day from him, not saying anything other than that he heard my mother died so he would continue his monthly payments to me if I wanted. At first I rejected him and worked 3 jobs to make enough to survive and to study further, but the stress got to me. I accepted his offer, and I’m still using it now. It makes me feel guilty, but I really need it.”

Ymir scoffed. _Oh please, from what I’ve heard that old geezer owes more than just money to you. He ruined your life by isolating you away from the other half of your family. If I could I would kick his ass right now._

Krista blushed that Ymir was willing to do something like that and smiled. “So, I answered your questions. Do you have parents?”

Ymir grew quiet and cleared her throat. _No, I don’t. I really don’t want to talk about it… can I ask more questions?_

Krista grew concerned but decided not to push it. She was probably right in her assumption that Ymir hadn’t had the best life growing up, so she understood if that was why she didn’t want to talk about her life.

So Krista smiled and nodded. “You can, just don’t ask anything embarrassing.” Krista regretted saying that when Ymir perked up and barked a chuckle.

_Well, now I have a whole new line of questions in mind…_


	13. Chapter 13

The two ended up talking for hours. After another line of questions Krista started speaking without the need of a question to answer, and Ymir stopped asking, content to just let her small companion talk about whatever came to her mind. The blonde spoke about her entire childhood, about how she had met all of her friends and how they stuck with her through everything she had gone through. She explained her passion for writing and for sharing the truth with the world, and of what had led her to her current position in life. Krista smartly avoided mentioning her empty love life and constant loneliness that, Krista had to admit, had decreased since Ymir had entered her life.

As Krista continued to speak and Ymir listened, midnight passed and Ymir turned, though they hardly took notice. Ymir just used the blanket to cover herself because she knew Krista would freak out if she sat there naked the whole time.

It was around 2 a.m. when Krista finally ran out of things to mention. Ymir had remained surprisingly alert through it all. Normally she would have grown bored within the first ten minutes and dozed off, but she genuinely found Krista’s retelling interesting. She wanted to get to know her.

Though the blonde had run out of stories to tell, she did have a question hanging on her tongue that she had been dying to ask for quite a long time. She hadn’t asked because she knew Ymir would never answer, but there was a chance that she would now, so Krista had to risk it. They were in a good, bonded mood at the moment, so it couldn’t go too bad.

“Say, Ymir…” Krista spoke up hesitantly. She nervously wrung her hands together and kept her eyes downcast.

“Remember something else to tell me?” Ymir asked in return, a grin tugging at her lips.

“No, actually… can I ask you something?”

Ymir noticed Krista’s nervous fidgeting and realized that it was probably going to be a personal or serious question. Figuring that she owed Krista for the questions she had willingly answered, Ymir shrugged and nodded her head. “Sure.”

“You’ve been here for about 2 months now… and I’ve enjoyed having you here. But,” Krista squirmed again. “I’ve just been wondering this one thing, because it doesn’t really make sense.”

Ymir raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Why haven’t you gone home yet?”

Ymir frowned and her eyebrows came together in confusion. She swallowed the sudden hurt and pulled the blanket tighter around her. “I thought you enjoyed having me here.”

Krista’s head snapped up at the slight hurt in Ymir’s voice that she tried to hide with an indifferent huff and she quickly waved her hands in panic. “No! I didn’t mean it like that! I was just wondering why you haven’t asked me to take you to your house yet. Even in your dog form, you could have easily directed me to your house or something…”

Ymir stared at Krista for a moment, like the thought had never dawned on her. “I never… thought of it…” Ymir looked off to the side and scowled. There was also a slight blush on her face.

Krista didn’t believe her. She must have thought about it once or twice in all the time she had stayed with the blonde. It was impossible that she hadn’t. Didn’t she have a job? Friends? Family, even though she claimed she had no one? There must have been a few people worried for the brunette’s disappearance.

“Ymir, are you su–”

“Yeah, it just slipped my mind. Can I take a shower?” Ymir stood, not waiting for an answer, and headed towards the bathroom.

Krista watched her go and then decided to follow. Ymir would need clothes. Once she got something for the brunette to wear and gave it to her – closing her eyes and blindly waddling around the bathroom to place it on the table beside the shower, making Ymir laugh at her clumsiness – Krista returned to the lounge to do some thinking.

Maybe she would ask Ymir another time, and maybe Ymir would answer her honestly.

XxX

The second week of Krista’s winter break passed rather playfully. Despite their few awkward moments, Ymir and Krista got along surprisingly well compared to their previous issues. Ymir spent all of her time getting to know Krista. They did a lot of things together, like shopping – Ymir had decided to accompany the blonde – taking a walk, talking at midnight, and many other pastimes.

On the Friday of the second week, Krista was woken at midnight by a big hand gently shaking her shoulder.

“Krista, oi, Krista?”

The blonde grumbled and cracked her eyes open, squinting up at the face in front of hers. “Ymir?” She released a giant yawn and sat up, rubbing her eyes and groaning. “What’s up? You don’t normally wake me.”

Ymir, leaning over the blonde, straightened and flashed a naughty grin. “Well, there was something I wanted us to do. Do you know how difficult it is to wake you up sometimes? Oh, and you drool.” Ymir pointed at the blonde’s chin, where a thin line of drool sat.

Krista blushed furiously and wiped it away. “Sorry.” She pushed her blanket off and sleepily slid out of bed. “What did you want us to do?” She yawned again and continued to squint, not quite awake yet.

Ymir grabbed Krista’s hand and pulled her out of the bedroom. “I want to watch a movie.”

“A movie?” Krista blushed again at the feel of Ymir’s warm hand in her own. The brunette’s skin was almost always feverishly hot, though she seemed to have gotten used to the heat. The hot flushes continued, but a cold shower and big meal helped with the pain. Krista still insisted on wiping Ymir down with a cold cloth, even though she didn’t really need it. Krista just wanted an excuse to sit close to her and touch her without being weird about it.

“Yeah! But not just any movie.” They entered the lounge and Ymir pushed Krista down onto the couch. She went over to all of the electrical equipment and scrolled around on Krista’s laptop that was hooked up to the TV via HDMI cable. It was something the brunette had shown Krista, since the blonde didn’t spend a lot of her free time messing with the various technologies she had purchased and never really used. Ymir knew her way around the house better than Krista did, and she could work every bit of technology, most of which Krista had no idea how to use. Krista was amused that Ymir was more in charge of the house than she was, considering whose house it really was.

Ymir pressed play and maximized the screen. She then jumped onto the couch beside Krista, making the blonde bounce for a moment, and then crossed her legs and grinned. “You’ll love it.” she announced.

Krista rubbed her eyes again and finally got a good look at her companion. Ymir’s hair was messily tousled and damp, telling Krista that she had showered before waking her, and she wore a long sleeved black shirt with a pair of jeans – another outfit Krista had bought for her.

“What movie is it?”

Ymir’s grin grew bigger. “Just watch and you’ll see.”

Krista narrowed her eyes, suspicious for good reason. “Is it porn?”

Ymir’s shoulders slumped and she sighed. “That was one time, and I’m sorry for scarring your innocent view of the world. I just thought it would be funny.”

Krista curled into a ball in the corner of the couch. “And it obviously was with the way you were laughing.”

Ymir chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. But no, this isn’t porn. Just watch and stop talking.”

Krista sighed, still suspicious of Ymir’s antics, but settled in and remained quiet to watch the movie. Ymir looked so excited as she grinned like an idiot and stole glances at Krista. The blonde noticed but didn’t comment. It was obvious to her that Ymir was waiting for her reaction, and greatly anticipating something amusing.

During their quick conversation the trailers had played and the beginning of the movie was now starting. It opened with a scene of normal, everyday people going to work. The main character was complaining about the mundane quality of life, and the friend tried to keep his spirits up, to no avail.

The first 20 minutes consisted of switching between 3 different people and the lives they led; the man, a woman who worked as a teacher and lived with her cats, and then a teenage boy suffering bullying in school, where the woman worked.

At first Krista couldn’t understand Ymir’s excitement at all, but then the movie’s atmosphere changed to something more ominous, and then a sudden outbreak spread and people lost their minds.

It was a damn zombie movie.

Ymir had stopped watching the movie to watch Krista’s face. The blonde’s eyes widened as the nature of the film dawned on her, and then she wrapped her arms around her body and started shaking, face nearly hidden behind her legs that were pulled up against her chest. She was frightened, but she kept watching.

Within 5 minutes of the outbreak and when it really started to get gory, Krista squeaked and suddenly launched herself at Ymir. The brunette had not expected it and fell back on the couch in surprise. Krista didn’t care about their position or that Ymir was starting to blush. She hid her face against Ymir’s neck and whimpered.

“Ymir! It’s a zombie movie.” Krista whined, peaking at the screen every few seconds to see what was happening, only to cringe and hide against Ymir again.

Ymir lay there dumbfounded, heart racing and palms suddenly sweaty. She felt Krista’s trembling and hesitantly wrapped her arms around her. Suddenly the zombie movie idea became much more of a success.

“You hate zombies?” Ymir questioned, grin on her lips even though her mouth felt dry and her body started to burn.

“N-not r-really but I h-hate horror m-m-movies.” Krista responded, still shaking like a leaf.

“It’s not real.” Ymir pointed out.

“I don’t care. S-still scary.” Krista squeaked when the gory sounds of zombies tearing into living flesh boomed through the living room. Of course Ymir would turn the volume up.

The brunette swallowed her nervousness and folded an arm behind her head. Despite the sudden painful fever, Ymir was really enjoying having Krista lying on her chest and curled under her arm. It felt… right. Even though Ymir knew that this could never go anywhere and she shouldn’t even be doing it, she still wanted to enjoy it for as long as she could. They continued to lay like that, Ymir laughing whenever Krista squeaked in fright. It was amusing because the blonde continued to watch even though she was scared.

Krista really hated horror movies, but she was determined to watch it because it was giving her the perfect excuse to lay on Ymir. The brunette smelt so nice. Whenever something extra frightening or gory happened, Krista would mould herself to Ymir and allow her scent to wash over her and calm her fear.

Ymir struggled to watch the movie because all she could focus on was Krista. The small blonde was so warm, which wasn’t all that good because Ymir’s body temperature was already way too hot, but the brunette didn’t mind. When the movie did eventually finish, Ymir switched the TV off, bathing the room in darkness. She would have gotten up and mocked Krista for how many sounds she made during the movie, but she was fast asleep. Krista used Ymir’s shoulder as a pillow and breathed evenly, her soft breaths washing over Ymir’s throat and making the brunette shiver.

It felt so good, but so wrong. Ymir should have woken her up, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She was enjoying it way too much, even though it hurt just the same. What harm could an hour do?

But it was more than just an hour as Ymir spent all of her time watching Krista’s relaxed face and running a hand through her hair. Despite how much she tried to supress it, Ymir couldn’t help but smile and feel her chest ache and warm. Krista made her feel things she had never felt before. Krista made her actually care about someone other than herself. But Krista also reminded Ymir that she shouldn’t even dream of being with the smaller girl. The blonde deserved better.

Against her better judgement, Ymir fell asleep with a hand in Krista’s hair, and her free hand intertwined with Krista’s. In her sleep, Krista smiled.


	14. Chapter 14

The next morning Krista woke with a loud yawn and a long stretch. A glance around told her that she had fallen asleep on the couch, using Ymir as a pillow. Had she fallen asleep on top of her? Krista blushed. If she had, then at least it seemed like Ymir hadn’t minded, since she was curled up comfortably underneath Krista’s head, still asleep.

Krista got up and wobbled over to her bathroom where she took a shower and then brushed her teeth after. As she brushed she hummed softly to herself. She was in a really good mood, and Krista knew why. Having spent so much quality time with Ymir over the week, Krista had really gotten to know her and she had also realized how deep her feelings for Ymir were. Despite her best efforts not to, Krista had fallen deeper in love.

Ymir was just so charming when she wasn’t being a moody, perverted old man. Ymir had a terrible sense of humour, and often played pranks on Krista. She also found many short nicknames for the blonde. But under all that, she did care. Krista could see that Ymir really was a very lonely person. Even knowing this, though, Krista was afraid of her feelings. She loved Ymir so much that she couldn’t bear to lose her, even if it meant that she had to suffer a love that could never be. She was determined, however, to get that loneliness out of Ymir by being there for her. No matter what happened, she would be there for the brunette through it all.

After getting dressed and doing her hair, Krista went into the lounge and started breakfast that consisted of bacon, eggs and toast. Extra bacon for Ymir.

In the lounge, Ymir woke to the wonderful scents wafting out of the kitchen. She released a yawn, sharp teeth glinting in the sunlight, and stretched her canine limbs. Ymir then jumped off of the couch and trotted happily into the kitchen.

_Is that food?_

Krista looked down at Ymir and smiled. “Yeah, food. I knew it would wake you.”

 _It smells amazing! I’m damn hungry._ Ymir whined and swept her tail from side to side.

Krista giggled and refocused on the sizzling pan on the stove. “Don’t worry, it’s almost done.”

 _Well hurry it up! I’m not joking about being hungry._ Ymir mentally grumbled in impatience.

“You’re always hungry. Just be patient Ymir, a few more minutes won’t kill you.”

_But I’m hungry…_

Krista just smiled and chose not to respond. When it came to her hunger, Ymir could complain until her face went blue. Eventually Krista plated the food and carried it all to the lounge. She sat down and then placed the plate down on the seat beside her for Ymir. This was their normal routine, when Krista wasn’t at school.

Before long Ymir finished her food, not to Krista’s surprise. It took longer for Krista to eat because she took her time, and actually chewed.

“Ymir…” Krista spoke up after swallowing.

_Mm?_

“Today is Saturday, so I was thinking that we should continue with the list.”

Ymir stiffened slightly. _I guess we… should._

“I mean… I only have one week left of my break. When school starts again, I might be too busy to help…” Krista played with the food on her plate. She didn’t want to continue with the investigation. She didn’t want to see any more of the people Ymir had been with. But most of all, she didn’t want to find the answer to all of this. It was very selfish, and it drowned her in guilt but she was desperate to keep Ymir dependent on her. But her good nature would always win out, and her selfishness would have to remain an inner demon.

_Do you really think we can find who did this?_

“There is always evidence, Ymir. Hints, clues. Life is never clean. I’m sure that if we look in the right places and follow all of the clues, we will find the person who cursed you and we will make you normal again.”

Ymir mulled on that for a bit, fighting her own desires to be stubborn and refuse to go. She had promised herself that as soon as she returned to normal she would leave, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to stay for as long as possible. Of course, there was no way to make an excuse for that, so Ymir shrugged and rested her chin on her front paws.

_Sounds good. When do you want to go?_

Krista swallowed the last bit of her food, grabbed their plates and stood. “We can leave right now!” she said in false cheerfulness. Thankfully, Ymir never noticed.

  1. Ymir sighed softly and watched the blonde walk slowly into the kitchen.



XxX

Ex number 7: short blonde hair, deep blue eyes, pale and shy. She sat with her head down, a small smile on her lips and a furious blush on her face. Across from her a much taller woman leaned forward on her elbow and reached out to lightly touch the blushing blonde’s face. The blonde reacted by blushing even more and widening her eyes. Her black haired companion found that amusing and laughed again, but smiled dreamily and dropped her hand to take the blonde’s in hers and intertwine their fingers.

“Awww.” Krista cooed softly, blushing herself, and covered her smile by hiding her face behind a menu.

_It’s so mushy I think I'm going to puke._

Krista sighed and gave Ymir a kick under the table. “Don’t be such a tard! They’re adorable.”

Ymir growled from where she hid under the table and refrained from biting Krista back. _Yeah, sure. Whatever._

“I never expected one of your exes to be so… timid.”

_Did you think they would all be crazy?_

“Well… yeah… but she seems really happy with her girlfriend.”

_Not girlfriend. They’re married._

Krista’s eyes widened. “Really? How can you tell?”

Ymir sighed and rolled her eyes. _Identical wedding rings. And besides, they’ve been best friends their whole lives. I could always see that Shane was super in love with Misty._

“But you slept with her anyway?”

Ymir shifted uncomfortably. She wished she could run out from underneath the table she was hiding under. She and Krista had gone in search of ex number 7, Misty. They ended up trailing her all the way to a pizza shop where Misty took a seat with Shane, a tall, dark, and handsome woman that the timid blonde had been in love with all her life. Since dogs weren’t allowed, Ymir had to sneak in because she had refused to stay outside. Krista fervently hoped no one would look under the table cloth and find the husky.

_I never slept with her. I tried. I really, really tried. I got her to slightly fall in love with me, but she was always stuck on Shane. When I almost got her naked one night, Shane came in and broke my jaw. I think if Shane could, she would curse me because I tried to take Misty from her._

Krista squinted as she processed that, and then she continued watching the doting couple. It made her heart buzz with warmth as she watched how gentle and caring Shane was, although a bit teasing. Misty responded to her in the most adorable ways. Blushing at something she said or a caress, smiling, giving her love filled, adoration brimmed looks. Krista wished she could be like that with Ymir. Look at Ymir like that. Touch Ymir like that. She sighed.

“Okay, so how will I get to interrogate her? I don’t think she’s the one though… at least not Misty.”

_Get Shane alone._

“How?”

_Just ask her if you can speak to her outside or something. You look harmless so I doubt she’ll say no._

Krista sighed deeply and gingerly placed the menu back on the metal table. “Alright, guess I’ll give it a try.” She stood and made her way over to the couple. They didn’t notice her appearance at all, so Krista had to clear her throat to get their attention.

“Hi.” Krista said a bit shakily and gave an awkward smile.

“Uh, hi. Can I help you?” Shane replied with a smile. She seemed so… radiant. Krista could definitely see why Misty was so in love with her.

“Oh?” Shane glanced at Misty, who was staring curiously at Krista, though seeming a bit intimidated.

“My name is Krista, and I really need to talk to you. I know you don’t know me, but it’s urgent.” Krista tried her best not to blush in embarrassment. Besides being an absolute hottie, Shane also had very, very strong eyes. And right now they were boring into Krista.

From her place under the table, Ymir narrowed her eyes and growled softly.

“Sure.” Shane gave Misty’s hand a squeeze and then stood. It was strange that she had accepted Krista’s plea so quickly, but when she stood and Krista realized that she was even taller than Ymir, she realized that she was probably fearless and knew that if Krista posed a threat, she could defend herself just fine. Krista couldn’t help but widen her eyes when she looked up to meet Shane’s smirking face.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to get this over with.”

Krista nodded hurriedly and gestured for the tall woman to follow her, and she did. They stepped out of the restaurant and paused right beside the entrance.

“My name is Shane, by the way.”

Krista smiled. “I’m sorry to bother you like this, Shane.” The blonde glanced into the shop and spied two ears standing at attention. Ymir was probably watching, though sneakily. “B-but you see, I, um…” Krista swallowed. She had already decided on her story when they had taken a seat much earlier. But it made her blush. “I… I’m kind of seeing a person named Ymir…” Krista left the sentence hanging and watched for a reaction. Other than a nod of encouragement to continue and a glint of recognition in her eyes, Shane hardly reacted at all. “And I know about what happened between you and her. I j-just wanted to ask you if you could forgive her.” She felt absolutely stupid, asking something like that. They probably hadn’t seen each other in years, or knew each other at all. Krista risked sounding like a possessive girlfriend. But she needed to see how Shane would react, if it was in anger or otherwise.

“Forgive?” Shane scratched the back of her neck and shoved her free hand in her pocket. “Yeah, I did beat the crap out of Ymir, but I’ve never held a grudge against her. She seems like a cool person. She just didn’t seem cool when she was all over the person I love.” She shifted and smiled down at the blonde. “So I’ve forgiven her a long time ago. Why find me all this time after, though?”

Krista shifted. Shane was being absolutely sincere, that much Krista could tell. She definitely hadn’t cast any spell.

“I just don’t want anyone out there holding any grudges against Y-Ymir! I b-believe that it brings bad luck and can destroy a relationship with the n-negative energy.”

Shane gave Krista an odd look but grinned and gave her a slap on the back. “You’re cute, you know that? Ymir is lucky. I just hope she doesn’t treat you like she did Misty. How long have you been with her, by the way?”

Krista’s heart started racing and she swallowed. She had hoped that Shane wouldn’t ask, and she was also flustered because of the compliment.

“About th-three months…” Krista squeaked out, blushing hard now.

Shane laughed. “You’re just like Misty! Blushing for everything. Don’t be ashamed though. If you love her, love her with everything you’ve got. I’ve heard about her shady past and three months is forever for her, so I think you have her whipped. Well done!” Shane grinned brightly and gave Krista’s shoulder a squeeze. “Anyway, glad I could help you feel more at ease! I’m going back to my love now.” She offered a wave and then walked back into the restaurant.

As the door slowly trailed closed, Ymir quickly slipped out unnoticed and walked up to a still blushing Krista who was avoiding her gaze and shifting uncomfortably.

_So?_

“It isn’t her. We can cross Misty off. How does a movie sound?” Krista laughed nervously and started walking to her car.

_You seem nervous, and you’re blushing. What did Shane say? Did she hit on you?_

Krista heard the jealousy in Ymir’s voice and paused. Was she really jealous? She turned, about to comment on that, but stopped short.

“If it isn’t my star pupil.” An arm flung out and wrapped around Krista’s shoulder. “How have you been?”

Krista smiled and gave Hanji a hug around the waist. “I’ve been great, though busy. What are you doing here, Hanji-sensei?”

“Oh I was just going to the bookstore over there when I noticed you standing here. Is that a dog?!” Hanji dropped down to her knees and pulled Ymir against her.

 _Krista, get this loon off of me._ Ymir growled as Hanji cooed and made weird noises as she rubbed her face against Ymir’s fur and stroked her back. Krista didn’t have to intervene though, because Hanji suddenly froze and held Ymir’s face in her hands. She examined her closely and looked deeply into her eyes. Both Ymir and Krista began to sweat.

Hanji hummed softly, released Ymir and then stood while dusting herself off. “Krista, I need to ask you something strange…” the bespectacled woman asked in a way too serious tone.

“U-um, yes?”

Hanji glanced down at Ymir and then back at Krista. “Is this really a dog, or is she a human that turns into one?”

Together, Ymir and Krista’s eyes widened.


	15. Chapter 15

“W-w-what?” Krista squeaked out. Her heart thundered in her chest and she started to tremble.

Hanji just continued to stare at Krista, eyes narrowed in suspicion and hands on her hips. She occasionally glanced down at Ymir who was feeling quite confused about the situation. Why was Krista freaking out anyway? Hanji couldn’t prove it. She had no evidence and no one would believe her. Besides, they could just continuously deny it.

Ymir walked up to Krista and bumped against her leg. _Oi, shorty. Stop freaking. This weirdo can’t prove anything. Just deny everything._

Krista’s eyes widened slowly and she very nearly replied to Ymir, but then she snapped her head back to Hanji whose suspicious glare only deepened. Krista swallowed hard. Ymir was right! All she had to do was claim how impossible something like that was and go on her merry way. The blonde was about to open her mouth and do just that.

But then Hanji burst out laughing and nearly fell over with the force. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and bent forward in an attempt to control her laughter, but it wasn’t working. Eventually, face red and tear streaked, Hanji straightened and gave Krista a hearty pat on the back.

“The look on your face!” Hanji exclaimed. “Priceless. This is why I follow you around sometimes.” She wiped a tear from her eye, laughed a bit more and then sighed in satisfaction. “How could you even fall for that? Anyway, I’m off. That’s a pretty dog by the way!” She stepped away and then walked off down the street, laughing all over again.

Krista and Ymir both watched her with flabbergasted expressions and tilted heads.

“Did she just…?”

_I think she did. What the fuck._

Krista shook her head. Relief washed over her and she sighed to show it. “It was only a joke. She was joking.”

_I’m guessing she’s the only one that can make a joke about something that’s really happening without knowing it._

Krista shook her head again. “Yeah, she is. Let’s go home.”

Ymir nodded and they got into the car. The drive back was silent and heavy. Both of them were still mulling over that joke. Krista was still a bit panicked while Ymir was just astounded. When they arrived home they went inside just as silently and parted their ways. Krista went to take a shower to clear her head while Ymir opted for a nap on the blonde’s bed.

As she dozed off, Ymir could hear the shower running and allowed that to lull her to sleep.

XxX

“Ymir!” Krista moaned, voice heavy and breathy.

Ymir opened her eyes and they widened. She glanced down at her hand. It was gently cupping one of Krista’s breasts, massaging gently and evoking moans from the little blonde who was pressed up against the shower wall. The brunette swallowed hard and noticed her free arm was wrapped around Krista’s lower back, pressing them firmly together.

Ymir could feel her warm, wet skin, and her heated breaths on her cheek. She finally looked into Krista’s face and swallowed again. Krista’s face was flushed, her hair wet and slicked back. In her eyes shone deep lust, but something else. Something that made Ymir’s heart pound and ache at the same time. She didn’t have time to open her mouth and ask what was going on, or to even wonder that herself. Because Krista’s next utterance brought her world crashing down at her feet.

“Ymir, I love you!” Krista wrapped her arms around Ymir’s neck and buried her face against her shoulder, head tucked under her chin. Ymir tensed but remained there, unconsciously pulling Krista tighter against her. Water continued to spray out of the shower head and cascade down on them, sliding down their bodies and falling away in the drain. “Do you?”

Ymir stared hard at the wall, mouth pressed into a firm line. She felt like running, but more than that she felt like staying.

“Do you love me Ymir?” Krista asked softly.

Ymir’s heart swelled and it was painful. She could feel the blonde’s small body tremble in her arms. She was so small, and they fit together so snugly. Ymir squeezed her eyes shut and pressed into Krista, heart beating ecstatically.

She did. She loved her so much. She wanted her and she needed her.

“I shouldn’t.” Ymir responded softly. “I really shouldn’t.”

Krista took a deep, shattering breath. “But you already do, don’t you?”

Ymir didn’t respond.

“Why do you keep yourself from this? Krista won’t leave you. She won’t hurt or shun you. Unlike everyone else, she stayed by your side in what is probably the most complicated situation of her life.”

Ymir suddenly stumbled back and gasped. Krista was no longer in front of her, but instead, it was herself.

“She probably loves you too. More than you could ever love her.”

Ymir looked to the side, hating looking at herself. She grit her teeth hard. “There is no way that she loves me.”

“If she didn’t then why would she let you stay here for so long?”

“She’s naïve! She’s too kind and way too damn compassionate. She would have done it for anyone else.”

“Maybe in the beginning, yeah. But after seeing your sorry ass for what it really is, she let you stay. She _wants_ you to stay.”

Ymir laughed and turned to her other self with an angry smirk. “Fuck off, me. Like always I’m just talking bullshit.”

“I am simply the manifestation of your inner struggle. I represent what you already know but what you are too afraid to believe.” The other Ymir stepped forward and shoved Ymir against the wall, hands wrapped around her neck. “Maybe you are right and maybe you don’t deserve her.  But no one else does. If she loves you, then take that and hold on to it until you die.”

Ymir’s face contorted in pain. “I can’t! I want to but I can’t!”

“You can and you know it!”

Ymir thrashed against her own body pressing her down and yelled. “Leave me alone!”

XxX

“Ymir? Ymir?!” Krista shook Ymir’s shoulder in panic and breathed a sigh of relief when the husky opened her eyes and looked around the room in confusion.

_Krista?_

Ymir looked up at the blonde leaning over her and would have blushed if she could. Krista was still wet, dripping everywhere, and wrapped in nothing but a towel. Her face was covered in concern and panic.

“What happened? I was in the shower and you started yelping. I thought someone was hurting you or something.”

Ymir forced herself to mentally chuckle. _I was chasing a car or something in my dream. Don’t worry, I'm fine._

Krista was unconvinced. The amount of pain she heard in Ymir’s cries would forever be ingrained in her heart. The organ felt heavy and her chest felt tight.

“Okay.” Krista pulled Ymir against her for a tight hug. She cradled the brunette’s head under her chin and fought her own tears back. “No matter what Ymir, if you need someone to talk to I will listen. Even if it’s just about you chasing cars. Will you promise me that you will talk to me if you need it?”

Ymir sighed softly. She ignored the undeniable warmth and softness of the blonde’s skin and the clean and sweet scent washing around her. Ymir loved the way Krista smelt, and thanks to her heightened sense of smell, she was acutely aware of Krista’s scent. Even in human form, she could catch that scent anywhere.

“Okay.” Ymir said softly. “I promise.”

XxX

The next day the two decided to search for ex number 8. Ymir directed Krista and they drove there by car, but it seemed she wasn’t there. Ymir was confused, since it had only been a year and three months since she had seen her.

They searched around a bit more, checked in at places Ymir thought she could be, but they couldn’t find her. When they returned home Ymir was in an irritated mood and Krista was trying her best to cheer her up.

“I’m sure we can find her tomorrow! It’s no big deal.” Krista offered.

Ymir just grumbled and slouched as she walked into the lounge and settled on the couch. She curled into a ball on the seat and settled her chin against her front paws. She wasn’t irritated that they couldn’t find ex number 8. In fact, she was glad, because it meant they would be together longer with the extended search. What Ymir was irritated at was herself. As much as she tried, she couldn’t stop staring at Krista.

She couldn’t stop imagining taking the blonde in her arms and kissing her until her toes curled. When she realized where her thoughts were going Ymir remembered her dream and her mood soured. She shouldn’t even allow herself to fantasize the way she did, but it was all she had.

Krista entered the lounge and sat down beside Ymir on the couch. In her hand was a stack of letters she had retrieved from the post office on their way back. She hadn’t checked her post in a while because of her distractions.

“Trash, trash, trash,” Krista sifted through the envelopes and tossed the unwanted ones to the side. “Trash, trash, oh!” She dropped all other letters and gripped onto one.

Her face brightened and she excitedly though gently opened the flap and slipped a folded though slightly creased A4 paper out. She unfolded it and started reading what it said. As she read, her smile grew.

Ymir eyed her with an internal frown. That looked like a friendly letter. Who was it from and why was it making her so happy?

Trying her luck, Ymir scooted closer and sat up. She acted indifferent and mocked a stretch, but glanced over at the note in Krista’s hand. She only glimpsed a few words before Krista refolded the paper and put it back into the envelope. She sighed happily and then stood up.

“So, are you hungry?” Krista asked with a sickeningly sweet smile. That smile would have made Ymir’s heart pound, but now it made it sink.

Krista spun around and went into the kitchen to make something for them to eat. Watching her back, Ymir stared hotly and thought about the bit she had seen in the note.

‘Krista!... Soon… home… miss you… - Reiner.’

If only she had seen a bit more, because the vagueness of the few words she had seen made Ymir’s stomach tighten and churn. She felt sick and angry and jealous all at the same time.


	16. Chapter 16

Over the last week of Krista’s break Ymir struggled to forget about that letter from Reiner, and how happy it had seemed to make Krista. She found herself watching the blonde more than she should have, and touched her more often, both in dog and human form, though more so when she had hands.

The jealousy seemed to just build until it consumed her, and Ymir didn’t know what to do. She repeatedly reminded herself that she had made a decision, and one that she vowed to stick by. Krista was not a toy, and she would not play with her. But the intense longing she felt, especially now that Ymir feared the blonde’s heart was already taken, had reached a point of alarm.

Ymir’s hot flushes became worse, but she made sure to hide the severity from Krista so as not to worry her. She very much enjoyed Krista wiping her down with a cloth, though, so she did not pretend that she was fine.

It was a constant inner struggle with Ymir as her heart and mind went to battle.

Krista had allowed Ymir to kiss her before, so why wouldn’t she now? But if she was taken… but that didn’t matter! Why was the most selfish person struggling to be selfish?

Ymir sighed deeply and pressed her fist to the slick shower wall. She was currently taking a cool shower. It was just after midnight and the blonde was still asleep. Ymir had gone into the room to wake her, but Krista had looked so damn adorable. Plus she was only wearing panties and a shirt, and had at some point kicked the blanket to the side. Ymir had nearly died from a massive nosebleed, and ran for the bathroom before her animalistic desires took control and she woke Krista by ravishing her.

Ymir was tired of fighting it, though. It was tiring her. She was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. If she could leave, she would have. But they hadn’t found anything on the last two exes, and there were no new leads on who had cast this stupid dog curse on her.

Ex number 9, a college student named Leah, had been completely innocent. She spoke cheerfully to Krista and even mentioned a few positive things about Ymir and excused her faults. It was the same with the last woman on the list, Andrea. Though she was very reluctant to talk about Ymir and cringed at the very mention of her name. She was polite to Krista and offered to send out positive thoughts in her search for Ymir.

When was it going to stop?

Ymir wanted her old life back. She wanted to return to the job she hated, to the empty house that she seldom slept in, the countless flings and loveless sex. She wanted to return to being alone, to depending on and needing no one. But she couldn’t, not right now. Going back to her house would be pointless if she couldn’t do any damn thing for herself while she was on four legs. She hated and loved how she needed Krista. But she was tired of all of the foreign and scary emotions. She wanted to return to the safe distance she kept from life.

“Ymir?” Krista suddenly called sleepily from the other side of the closed bathroom door.

Ymir jerked out of her turbulent thoughts and shook her head. “Yeah?” she called back.

“Are you feeling okay? Is your fever going again?”

Ymir sighed deeply but allowed a small smile. Krista sounded so cute when she was still half asleep, and Ymir could just imagine how she was leaning against the wall for support, yawning and blinking to stay awake.

“I’m okay. Don’t worry. Why don’t you go back to sleep?” Ymir called back.

There was silence for a moment, and then Krista yawned loudly enough for Ymir to hear. “No, I'm not tired,” she lied, “I’ll make dinner for you. Don’t be too long.”

With her enhanced hearing, even in human form, Ymir heard the blonde’s soft footsteps lead out of the room and fade down the passage. She sighed.

Ymir shut the shower off, stepped out and then shook her hair much like a dog would. Droplets of water sprayed everywhere and dripped from her tall, lean form. With a long breath Ymir wrapped a towel around her hair and tousled it dry. She then put clothes on and made her way to the kitchen. Once there she completely froze by the door and glanced back where she had come, a hand over her nose.

“Ymir?” Krista glanced back over her shoulder and scrunched her eyebrows together in concern. “What’s wrong?”

Still not looking, Ymir gripped the doorframe for support. “Krista, put some pants on.” She said stiffly. “I can see your ass.”

Krista glanced down at herself in puzzlement, gasped and then pulled her t-shirt down to cover her underwear. “S-sorry. I forgot.” She quickly scurried out of the kitchen with a massive blush on her face. While she hurried back to her room, Ymir took a peek and then groaned in regret. Krista had a really cute ass, and now Ymir really needed another cold shower.

When she returned Krista had one of her favourite pink bunny pyjama pants on over the panties, but the blush on her face remained. She went back over to the stove and plated the two steaks she had fried for Ymir. When she placed them on the kitchen table in front of her, the brunette couldn’t help but grin saucily at her, despite her own slight blush and awful fever.

“Hearts, huh?”

Krista looked down and her bottom lip poked out. “Shut up…”

“Not my fault you forgot you were in your underwear.” Ymir leaned her chin on her hand and grinned even more. She just couldn’t resist teasing Krista. The way she reacted was too adorable.

“I-I was tired, okay!”

“Are you sure you just didn’t want to give me a flash?” Ymir wiggled her eyebrows, and ignored the spike in her own pulse. If only…

“N-no! You jerk. Eat your steak or I’ll take it away and you’ll starve.”

Ymir laughed. “You wouldn’t! You care about me too much.”

Krista shuffled on her feet and mumbled something under her breath. “Fine!” she said louder. “But really, stop being a jerk and eat.” She tried to sound upset, but Krista couldn’t help but smile. When Ymir saw that smile, her heart swelled and warmed. Just looking at that radiant smile made Ymir fall in love all over again.

Ymir chuckled but decided to obey and started on the steak. She had even forgotten about her painful hunger during the teasing. Krista just shook her head and smiled.

“Don’t forget to wash that plate when you’re done.” Krista said sternly.

“Yeah, mom.” Ymir replied with an eye roll.

Krista sighed in mock exasperation and headed out of the kitchen.

“Where you going?” Ymir called after her.

“Just going to do some school work.” Krista replied from the lounge.

Ymir glanced down at her partially eaten food, contemplating, and then wolfed it all down. A second later she grumbled about stupid rules as she scrubbed the plate clean, and then she ran into the lounge.

“That was quick.” Krista commented after glancing up at the sound of Ymir approaching.

The brunette shrugged. “Meh. You know how hungry I get. So, what is this crap about school work?”

Krista smiled as she turned back to the notes in her hands and adjusted the classes sitting on the bridge of her nose. “Well, I start class tomorrow so I thought I would go through some of the previous work we did.”

“Why would anyone want to do that?” Ymir plopped down on the couch beside her and gave the smaller of the two a raised eyebrow.

“Because of someone,” Krista leaned to the side and playfully bumped shoulders with Ymir, “I haven’t gone over my work at all this break. I normally do.”

Ymir rolled her eyes. “You’re damn smart already and you still need to learn?”

Krista blushed. “I’m not smart. I just try my best to remember and understand the work.”

“Sounds smart to me.” Ymir sounded more sincere than she had intended, and it made Krista glance at her in surprise. They locked eyes for a long moment, the air heavy and tense. Ymir swallowed hard and completely lost herself in the blue depths of Krista’s eyes that were hidden behind the glasses. Subconsciously they both began to lean closer towards each other, breathing hard and hearts pounding. Krista blinked and then sat up straight again. She cleared her throat and shuffled the papers sitting on her lap to mask her shaking hands.

“So, uh. How was your shower?”

Ymir ran a hand through her hair and swallowed. Her throat was damn dry. “It was fine.” _But empty without you in there with me,_ she was tempted to add, but didn’t.

“Good, that’s good.” Krista responded nervously and tried in vain to return to studying her notes.

Ymir began another inner battle. Her heart pounded hard and her whole body hummed. She felt a physical pull towards the blonde, but resisted it. With all of her might she resisted it. But the pull was so strong.

The brunette snuck a glance at Krista and studied her beautiful, flushed face. She had her hair tied up in a ponytail, allowing a sexy view of her creamy neck. Her t-shirt fell snugly over the slope of her full, heaving breasts. Her lips, pink and parted, looked so tempting that Ymir found herself leaning in again.

As if sensing the danger of sitting there for another second, Krista stood up suddenly and hugged her stack of notes to her chest. She looked down at the floor because she was scared of looking into Ymir’s sexy, haughty eyes.

“I, uh… I’m going back to bed,” she announced with a tremble in her voice.

Ymir stood too but kept quiet, not sure if she should say anything or just nod. She didn’t have to worry about how to respond any further, because when Krista made a move to leave, she suddenly tripped on her own feet.

In an instant Ymir dashed forward and caught her. Papers fluttered around and drifted to the floor around them, and Krista blushed as she stared up into Ymir’s equally red and shocked face. They were so close. So very close. Ymir shouldn’t. She should resist it with everything she had.

But she tightened her arms around Krista’s lower back, pressing them harder together. But she released a long, hot breath that washed over Krista’s cheek and made the blonde’s heart flutter.

And she finally gave in.


	17. Chapter 17

Slowly, almost hesitantly, the descending papers drifted to the ground and, with a gentle break of the silence, slid across the floor and halted. The silence continued, almost painfully, but the soft scrape of paper to the floor still rang loudly in Krista’s ears. Among that she could barely hear anything other than her own, and Ymir’s heartbeat. Blood pumped excitedly through her veins, spreading adrenalin through her body and making it burn. The blonde swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut.

Ymir was kissing her. The brunette had given her a pained expression for a fraction of a second, and then she had leaned down and captured Krista’s lips with her own. At first Krista was too stunned to react and when she did realize what was happening, she started to panic. They couldn’t, they really couldn’t go down that path. She flattened her hands against Ymir’s heaving chest and attempted to shove her back, but Ymir didn’t feel the pressure at all. Krista then started pushing harder, in a panic and in a haze as the taste and feel of Ymir’s lips registered in her clouded mind, clouding it over further, and the brunette’s warmth and scent washed over her.

Eventually, after countless attempts to push Ymir off, the brunette noticed the attempt and slowly pulled away. Her face was flushed and red, her lips even redder, and she had a look of hunger, regret and panic in her eyes. The moment their lips had parted and Krista no longer felt that achingly sweet pressure, she whimpered and pulled Ymir’s face back down to her own.

Ymir uttered a cry of surprise, and then a moan. She was trying to stop it too. To get herself to stop and take a cold shower, or to push the blonde away like Krista had done. But she couldn’t. With every heated brush of lips Ymir felt her worry and denial melt away. It left nothing more than desire, passion and love.

When Krista wrapped her arms around Ymir’s neck and whimpered softly against her lips, the last ounce of resistance completely fell away and Ymir lifted the smaller woman in her arms. She continued to ravish her sweet lips with a deep, hot kiss. Their bodies were pressed together deliciously and when Ymir started walking, Krista barely noticed. She ran her hand through Ymir’s hair and kept it there, brown locks intertwined with her small fingers. She used her other hand to grip the back of Ymir’s neck and push their lips harder together.

Like a timer gone off, their emotions exploded. Weeks upon weeks of resisting melted away and the two could only feel the other.

Ymir made her way out of the lounge and into the passage on sure feet, though her legs shook. She knew the layout of the house so intricately, because of the many days she had spent living here and scouting the place out, that she could follow the map in her mind and safely manoeuvre them out of the lounge without even a danger of bumping into anything. The fact that she had something precious and fragile in her arms – Krista – was another reason for Ymir to pay extra attention to her instincts.

With far too enhanced senses, Ymir listened carefully to the echo of her footsteps as she entered the passage and started to Krista’s room.

However, Krista suddenly bit down on her bottom lip, and Ymir faltered. She quickly pressed Krista to the wall to prevent dropping her or falling over, and growled hungrily, inhumanly, into the blonde’s mouth. Krista moaned in response.

Krista couldn’t even remember why she had been trying to stop this from ever happening. Every atom of her body hummed and tingled, especially where her skin met with Ymir’s. The taste of her lips made Krista high. She felt dizzy and her mind was clouded. The emotions pulsing in her body were too intense to bear, but they all felt so wonderful. Her body burned, and it burned so bad, but so good. She burned for Ymir, and suddenly the urge hit her and she started pulling at Ymir’s clothes.

Ymir growled again and bared her sharp, canine teeth as she moved her lips down and started roughly kissing along Krista’s throat. The urge to bite was great, but Ymir didn’t act on it – yet. She felt the tug on her shirt and immediately understood the blonde’s intentions. With a swift swipe Ymir tore the shirt off of her own body and let it drop to the floor. Krista’s legs that had wrapped around her waist the moment Ymir had lifted her, tightened and the muscles tensed. Krista quickly made work of removing her own shirt and eventually succeeded, though it was difficult with the way Ymir was kissing and sucking along her shoulder, neck and jaw.

When the shirt came off and Krista’s chest was exposed, Ymir pressed them firmly together and growled into Krista’s ear while the blonde moaned and let her head fall back. There was more skin exposed and Ymir took advantage of that. With each new brush of Ymir’s lips or tongue on Krista’s burning skin, the blonde panted and moaned. Tears collected at her eyes because of the force of her emotions.

Now frustrated at their position, Ymir pushed off from the wall and protectively held Krista to her chest as she initiated another deep kiss and walked them into the blonde’s room. They made it to the bed and Ymir climbed on top and placed Krista down without breaking the kiss.

Krista squirmed underneath Ymir’s long, warm body and breathed erratically through her nose. Her pale, naked chest heaved with every laboured breath and each gasp.

After a near eternity of toe curling kisses, Ymir ran her tongue along Krista’s lower lip, asking for permission. Without knowing what else to do, Krista allowed her in and moaned deeply when Ymir’s tongue slipped into her mouth and glided along her own. She quivered and squeezed her shaking legs together to cool the fiery heat between them.

Krista was very conscious of the intense heat rolling off of Ymir and felt the dampness on her skin. She wondered if there would possibly be any steam coming off of Ymir’s body. But her own heat seemed to rival even Ymir’s, and it wasn’t because they were pressed together. The heat was boiling and expanding from her very core and made her skin hot and flushed. Krista wondered if this is what Ymir felt each time she had a fever, and thought that it probably was.

How could anyone handle it? The heat in her body created an ardour that she didn’t know how to control. All that Krista could consciously understand was that if she touched Ymir, if she gave in and brushed their lips together, moved against her body, the heat would be sated. Something inside of her told her that if she didn’t let Ymir take her now, she wouldn’t be able to survive nor would she cool down.

Now completely desperate, Krista clawed at Ymir’s back, which caused the brunette to arch into her and hiss which in turn made Krista cry out.

Ymir felt just as desperate and opened her eyes to gaze down into Krista’s intense blues. She looked into her eyes long and hard, seeing a familiar fire in blue that she often saw in her own brown. Without needing another prompt Ymir used one leg to slightly spread Krista’s, and then pressed her thigh against the blonde’s centre.

Krista cried out in surprise and her already frighteningly fast pulse raced even faster.

Ymir searched for both of Krista’s hands, intertwined their fingers when she found them, and rested them to each side of Krista’s head as she took a shattering breath and moved against Krista. When the blonde moaned hotly in response, Ymir’s body burned even more.

Before going any further Ymir tore her boxers off with her own hands and did the same with Krista’s pants and underwear. The shredded clothes fell to the floor in dejection, ignored. Krista received undivided attention as Ymir repositioned her leg, pressed into her and breathed heavily against her ear.

Despite it being her first time Krista wasn’t nervous. She was shaking, but from the arousal and not from the nerves. Ymir was much the same and could only register the intense need to make Krista hers.

Slowly, deliciously, Ymir started moving against Krista. Skin sliding against wet skin. Krista moaned and moved against Ymir as the brunette set a rhythm and concentrated all of her focus on that. The louder Krista’s moans of passion became, the deeper Ymir’s desire to sink her teeth into her grew.

When Krista started clawing at her lower back, pushing Ymir’s thigh harder against her, Ymir released a deep chested moan and parted her lips. A long, foggy breath escaped into the air and she opened her mouth to reveal long, sharp fangs. Without breaking the rhythm of her thrusting hips, Ymir bent down and bit down between Krista’s shoulder and neck.

Krista’s eyes shot open in surprise and she slammed her head back against the pillow while she arched off of the bed and into Ymir. She felt each of the brunette’s defined muscles against her stomach due to how pressed up against each other they were. A shot of pain mingled in with pleasure sailed through Krista’s body and collected at her core. She throbbed hotly and groaned. For some reason, the feel of Ymir’s sharp teeth sinking into her shoulder felt so damn good.

Ymir growled predatorily and released Krista’s hand to trail her own one down her side and pull her leg up, making Krista wrap it around her lower back.

Slight drops of blood escaped past Ymir’s teeth and touched her tongue. The strong metallic tang made Ymir falter for a second, and then growl again.  She tightened her hold on Krista’s creamy thigh and ran her tongue over the flesh pressed to her lips. Her teeth had sunk in like they were sinking into butter, and Ymir couldn’t understand why she felt a need to do it, or why it felt so amazing to do so. She cared even less about the reason, and simply followed her instincts.

An electric sensation started in both of them. For Krista, at the point where Ymir was connected to her at her shoulder, and for Ymir it started at her teeth. It spread out from the point of entry and covered the entire length of their bodies. This time Ymir squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered like a puppy. Her movements slowed and grew gentle, but did not stop. She felt Krista whimper beneath her and then run her hands through her hair.

For some reason Ymir could not release the bite. Just the thought made her inwardly cringe, so she kept her mouth very still so as not to wound Krista any deeper, and focused on moving with Krista and bringing them both oh so close.

Krista’s small, trembling hands tangled with Ymir’s damp hair and she pressed their cheeks together since she couldn’t get a kiss. Her chest swelled and felt near to bursting, and as Ymir, this big, rude but charming person, her person, made love to her, she felt the end close in and she curled her toes. She arched into Ymir, shut her eyes and screamed as she came.

Ymir tensed and remained absolutely still. Her own orgasm overtook her, and it was nothing she had ever felt before. It happened at the precise moment of Krista’s, and Ymir almost felt like they were sharing the moment. Her jaw started to ache because of the intense care she took not to move her teeth, but then they both relaxed down and Ymir’s ability to move returned. It felt safe to remove her teeth and she did so slowly, sliding her sparsely bloody fangs from the angel’s wings.

A twin pair of thin lines of blood poured out and highlighted pale skin, but Ymir quickly caught the scarlet liquid with her tongue and gave the four small puncture wounds a gentle lick, making Krista gasp. She kept her weight on her elbows and lifted her head to stare down at Krista. The blonde smiled up at her, so shatteringly open and beautiful.

Ymir’s heart swelled and her dramatically cooler temperate spiked slightly. She couldn’t stop herself and started a long, slow kiss. It was gentle, though a bit blood laced, but the taste of her own blood made Krista heat up instead of turned off. She shivered violently as a big, gentle hand covered her breast, and the other soon followed with her second breast. A whole new fire ignited, and Krista panted and shivered as Ymir worked her body once more and slowly, teasingly but always gently, slid down her body.

When Krista looked down she met Ymir’s eyes and felt her throat constrict. Bright, burning and glowing golden eyes not belonging on any human stared back. On any occasion it would have frightened her, but they were Ymir’s eyes, and they were beautiful anyway. Especially with the intense lust Krista saw in them that were directed only at her. For now, only at her.

With a gentle growl Ymir ran her teeth along Krista’s thigh, sharp teeth points caressing soft, trembling flesh. And with a heartbeat, Ymir gave in again.


	18. Chapter 18

Krista breathed evenly, but she was not asleep. It was just after they had both collapsed in exhaustion and the blonde had her cheek pressed to Ymir’s warm shoulder. Warm, but not hot. Ymir didn’t have a fever, and now she felt normal. Ymir slept soundly, snoring softly and grumbling in her sleep. Her chest rose and fell with each breath, slightly lifting Krista each time.

She couldn’t sleep. Her eyes felt heavy, her shoulder ached and her body felt numb, but she couldn’t fall asleep. Images of what had happened not even an hour ago kept replaying in her mind. Gentle and rough touches, whispers, growls and moans. The feel of Ymir touching her like no one ever had, of claiming her and making her scream in bliss. Every sensation and every emotion continued to flit through her mind, refusing to let her mental state rest enough to shut down.

It was the fear. The choking, consuming fear that gripped Krista’s heart despite the blissful memories replaying in her head. Ymir was there now, but would she be when Krista woke?

The blonde tightened her hold on Ymir’s waist and buried her face against her neck, attempting to keep her tears at bay. But her chest burnt and ached and her stomach churned painfully. Ymir was probably going to leave, but a large part of Krista’s heart held the hope that the brunette would leave her stubbornness behind and just admit her feelings, if she felt anything.

What they had shared, that wasn’t just sex, or a one night stand. Krista could feel in every fibre of her being that what had happened was something so permanent that it would follow them even after death. Whether Ymir admitted it or not, that meant everything to them both.

But there was still that nagging fear, that niggling insecurity that it was all just in Krista’s head and a result of her own hopes and desires. Ymir could very well have just been using her body, and would act like nothing had changed when morning came. Krista hoped it would not be so, but her gut tightened painfully and that told her that the road ahead was not going to be a smooth one.

With one hand curled under her chin, she released Ymir’s hip with her other hand and searched for the brunette’s much larger hand. She found it, intertwined their fingers and pulled it up to under her chin where she wrapped her other hand around Ymir’s too. Krista curled as tightly against Ymir’s side as she could and felt her heart flutter when, unconsciously, Ymir pulled her closer with the arm she had wrapped around the blonde.

“Please don’t leave me.” Krista whispered softly and shifted slightly to kiss the side of Ymir’s jaw. “I can’t go back to not being with you… I can’t pretend that you’re not the reason for my smile now.” A single tear escaped and puddled on Ymir’s skin. Krista sniffed and released a hand to quickly wipe it away. Her shoulder reminded her of the bite wounds by burning slightly, though it wasn’t an unpleasant burn.

Krista made a mental note to wash the wounds and wipe them with disinfectant and then bandage them when she woke. For now she was too tired to get out of bed, and finally she was able to shut her heavy lidded eyes, even her breathing and fall asleep.

Not much more than an hour later Ymir’s eyes snapped open and she stared up at the ceiling, heart racing. It took a long moment for her drowsy mind to clear enough for her to feel a pleasant weight on her body, and when she looked down her throat constricted and her heart skipped a beat.

In a giant tidal wave of shock, all the memories and the knowledge of what had happened crashed down on Ymir. She carefully though hurriedly extracted Krista from her and quickly sat up at the edge of the bed. Feet on the cold floor, face in her hands, Ymir began to hyperventilate and grit her teeth hard.

“Fuck, fuck. Fuck!” Her heart continued to race even when she attempted to calm her breathing. “Shit!”

“Ymir….” Behind her Krista blindly felt around for the missing warmth of a body and groaned in her sleep. Ymir watched her from over her shoulder and groaned in horror.

“I did it. I fucking did it. Shit.” She rubbed a hand over her face and intensely resisted the urge to punch herself. After all this time of resisting with all of her will, she gave in like that. She did something that she was never allowed to do. Something she should never have even wanted. Ymir continued to watch Krista sleep and managed a fond smile through her upset. Just looking at Krista made her nearly accept what had happened and climb back into bed. But she couldn’t.

Krista turned onto her stomach, pushing the blanket off of her. Ymir caught sight of the puncture wounds at the top of her shoulder and exhaled sharply through her nose.

“Jesus, I bit her that bad? What the fuck is wrong with me?” She stood and started pacing, for once unaware of her nudity. She continuously ran a hand through her hair as her mind raced on how to fix this fuck up she had made.

From the bed Krista groaned softly, this time in pain. Ymir sighed to herself and went over to the blonde to see if she was awake. She wasn’t, but her shoulder was bleeding. Anger and guilt washed over Ymir and she gently reached out to turn Krista onto her side so that she could observe how bad the wounds were. Nothing seemed to be infected and there were no rips, only four deep punctures.

Ymir gently picked Krista up, deciding to do it the hard way, and carried the blonde into the bathroom. Upon contact Krista immediately curled up against Ymir’s chest and sighed in content. This made Ymir frown deeply.

She placed the blonde on the bathroom counter and turned the tap on to get the water warm. With her long body she was able to stretch to the cabinet and retrieve the first aid kit and a cloth. She first gently wiped the wounds with the warm cloth and then did it a second time with disinfectant. After that was done she chucked the cloth into the sunk, put the tap off and grabbed a bandage.

The whole while she kept an arm around Krista’s back to support her and keep her from falling over. The blonde had at some point just slumped forward and rested her head against Ymir’s shoulder, still asleep even as Ymir wrapped her wounds and put the kit back.

Ymir gently lifted her again and carried her back to the bed. She placed her down and covered her with the blanket. Krista turned onto her side but mumbled Ymir’s name, making the brunette pause and glance down at her.

Ymir stared at her for a long and hard moment, and then she leaned down and placed a firm kiss against Krista’s warm temple. She brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear and sighed down at Krista’s peaceful expression. “I’m sorry, Krista. Please forgive me.”

She stood and went over to the cupboard to put some clothes on. Since she was still in human form way past the time she normally turned, Ymir felt confident that she wouldn’t turn again anytime soon.

Once clothed and decent, Ymir spared one more pained glance at Krista and then trudged out of the room. A moment later the front door opened and closed softly after.

XxX

At 6 a.m. Krista’s alarm woke her from a deep and blissful sleep. Grumpily she sat up and slapped the alarm off, hair tousled and blanket pooled at her waist. At first she was confused and disorientated, but then a sharp pain in her shoulder made her gasp and grab at the area. Her fingers touched bandage and Krista saw that somehow she had been tended to. It must have been Ymir.

The memories slowly came back and warmed Krista’s body as well as her heart, though the fear settled in again and she glanced around the room for a missing tall brunette. When she didn’t find her Krista pulled on some clothes and searched the house in a panic. Ymir wasn’t in any room of the house, nor the back or front yard. Where could she have been?

In her panic to find her love, Krista forgot that she was supposed to be getting ready for school since it was a Monday and the start of a new term. While she searched the house for a second time, tears streaming down her face and heart thumping painfully, Krista’s shoulder began to ache again.

The pain was enough to make her cry out and slump against the passage wall, where she slid down into a heap on the floor and began to sob. Ymir had left. Krista’s fear had come true, and after having sex with her, Ymir had left. Why had she been stupid enough to let the kisses go on? To even let Ymir bite her? Why had she even bitten her in the first place?

Thinking about it made it hurt worse and Krista cried out again and grabbed at her shoulder. Her chest heaved with fast, uneven breaths and sweat trickled down the side of her face. Was her temperature picking up?

“Hey, what’s wrong?” a familiar husky voice broke Krista’s turmoil and made her snap her head up. Looking down at her with concern were the most beautiful brown eyes Krista had ever seen.

“Ymir!” Krista wailed and flung herself forward, colliding with the crouching Ymir and sending them both falling backwards.

“Jesus!” Ymir braced for impact and took most of the fall. She quickly sat up and pushed Krista off of her with a glare. “Are you throwing yourself at me now? What the hell was that?” She dusted her jacket off and attempted to fix her hair.

Krista sniffled and wiped the wetness from her face. “W-where did you go? I thought you left.”

Ymir paused and stared at the floor. “I went to my house.”

“Y-your house?” Krista’s stomach dropped.

Ymir nodded. “Mm. For some reason I’m still human so I decided to take a walk home and see if my house is still in one piece. I have a crapload of mail and bills but everything is still there. Why do you look like you were crying?” Ymir stood and dusted her pants off.

Krista swallowed and curled her hands together in her lap. “No reason… I had a bad dream…” she said softly. There was a terrible feeling in her stomach, and Krista was feeling herself slowly falling apart. “Are you going to leave?”

“Leave? I can’t yet. If I turn back into a dog I’ll be stuck alone in my house, unable to do anything for my own damn self.”

Krista bit her lip. _Yet_. So last night really had meant nothing to Ymir if she was still planning on leaving the moment she could. On shaky legs Krista stood up and made her way into the lounge to collect her school books. She was late, but she still had school.

“Yeah, we still need to find out who cursed you.” Krista said in a teary voice, holding her tears back with all her might.

“Does your shoulder hurt?” Ymir asked suddenly from directly behind Krista. The blonde stiffened.

“It was earlier, a lot. But it’s okay now.” Ymir didn’t respond. “Ymir… you bit me.”

Ymir sighed. “I did.”

“Why?” Krista turned around and looked up at Ymir through teary, determined eyes.

“I don’t know. But don’t worry, I won’t ever do it again.” Ymir shrugged and went over to the couch. She plopped down, turned the TV on and shifted through the channels with an empty expression.

Meanwhile, Krista’s entire body was shaking. Her chest burnt so bad that she could barely breathe. She was almost certain that last night had been a mistake, despite how amazing it had been and that it was her first time, and she had shared it with Ymir. There was still a tiny sliver of hope, so with the last remains of her strength Krista seated herself beside Ymir and prepared her courage.

“Y-Ymir?”

“Mm?” Ymir continued to study the TV, not really looking at anything but not looking at Krista.

“About last night…”

“It was fun. Thanks.” Ymir said curtly and offered a grin.

Krista felt her heart sink further, but pressed on. “Fun? I thought it was… m-more meaningful than that.”

“Meaningful?” Ymir finally turned her head and gave Krista an amused expression. “I wouldn’t call fucking meaningful.”

Krista puffed up with anger. “It wasn’t fucking!”

Ymir’s eyes widened. “What do you mean it wasn’t? Did you…. Oh… Oh!” Ymir laughed nastily. “Were you under the impression that we were making love?” She used the remote to scratch the back of her neck and gave Krista a raised eyebrow. “That was not making love, Krista. We fucked, and that’s it. We’ll never fuck again.”

“It wasn’t and you know it! You can deny it all you want but that was just as amazing to you and I know it meant as much to you! We did make love!”

Ymir dropped the remote and leaned over to press her nose to Krista’s. “I don’t make love, I fuck. You know that. Get this silly idea out of your head. Because that’s all it is: a silly idea in your head.”

“It isn’t!” Krista stood her ground, but she was trembling.

Ymir stood and rolled her eyes. “You are making things up. Don’t tell me what I feel just because you want something to be true.” She started for the passage but Krista stopped her.

“Stop denying it! You know it’s true Ymir! Why are you doing this?”

Ymir spun around and faced Krista fearlessly. “Are you fucking deaf? We didn’t make love because I didn’t want to. All I wanted was to fuck you! We were only two horny people who had sex, nothing special about it. If you think you’re special now because you got into my pants, then you’re dumber than I thought.” Krista merely stared up at her in shock, so she continued. “Why would I even want to be with someone weak and stupid like you? You let a fucking freak stranger into your house! You can’t get dumber than that! I’ve slept with many women who are a lot more woman than you, so I can do way better. Stop deluding yourself, little girl. Life isn’t some magical fairy-tale. The moment I have this fucking curse lifted, I'm leaving and you’ll never see me again!”

Krista swallowed hard, but the lump in her throat remained. She quietly grabbed onto her shoulder and turned to retrieve her bag. “Okay,” she said softly, brokenly, and gave Ymir one last shatteringly sad smile, tears pouring down her cheeks, before she tuned and headed for the door. “I’m sorry for annoying you. I won’t mention it again.” She gave a weak wave and left through the front door.

Ymir watched her go with a stoic frown, but the moment Krista closed the door and the sound of her car receded, Ymir clutched at her chest and fell to her knees.

She said nothing and merely choked on her tears as her heart broke and her soul bled.

_I’m so sorry Krista, please forgive me. One day, please forgive me._


	19. Chapter 19

Krista pressed her forehead to the closed front door and bit back a sob. Tears continued to stream down her face and her shoulders shook, but she didn’t utter a sound. If she did, then the tiny shred of control she had would disintegrate and she would crumble to the ground in a crying mess. Krista couldn’t afford that, at least not there. She didn’t want Ymir to see her like that; so weak, so broken.

After a long while of quietly crying with her head and hands pressed to the door, Krista straightened and wiped a hand over her red and puffy eyes. She still needed to get to school and she couldn’t just stand there and cry for the entire morning. She was already quite late. Krista pushed off from the door and descended the porch steps, bag slung over her shoulder. Once in the car she took a quick look in the mirror and sighed in anguish.

She hadn’t had time to properly neaten herself before Ymir basically set her heart on fire. Her hair was still messy, so she quickly ran a brush that she kept in the glove compartment through it, added some powder to her face to get rid of the awful paleness and the red streaks from the tears, and then she started the car and reversed out of the driveway.

The drive was silently painful with an occasional sniff from Krista. She didn’t want to go to class or face the world. With the state of her broken heart, she just wanted to climb into bed and sleep until her chest didn’t burn.

And thinking about burning, her shoulder was aching. It had hurt earlier but now it was throbbing with heat as well as pain. It was enough to completely discomfort her, but not quite enough for her to think of seeking medical attention. A bandage would be enough. And besides, how would she explain a bite like that?

_Yeah, I had sex with someone who can turn into a dog and she bit me._

Krista rolled her eyes at herself. Like anyone would believe that. She would probably be given medication for mental illness.

Eventually she arrived at her university and parked in the nearest empty space closest to the building. She now had English and Literature, and Petra took the class with her. That was another reason Krista wasn’t too keen on venturing out into the world that morning. She would have to see Petra, and Petra would see her, and her red, puffy eyes, pink nose, trembling lip and the way her hands shook.

Explanations would surely be demanded, and then somehow Krista would have to either deter her concern or find a way to explain it off.

 _What if I told her?_ Krista thought. _What if I just tell Petra about everything? I’ve been alone in this for a long time now and right now I can’t handle it on my own anymore. She might think I'm crazy, but just maybe… maybe she’ll humour me enough to listen._ Krista sighed. _Either way, I’ll sound like an idiot. I am an idiot._

Deciding not to talk to herself any longer and to stop with the procrastinating, Krista fixed her appearance one more time and then hopped out of her car. She slowly made her way through the double doors and down the hall towards her destination. Along the way she tried to convince herself to turn around and leave, but her conscience got the best of her and she forced her feet forward. What good would running away do? School wouldn’t wait for her, so she had to press on.

“Oh, hey cuz!” Petra waved excitedly from where she had just exited the bathroom and jogged over to Krista, who was fidgeting uncomfortably, hiding behind her hair and staring at the ground.

“M-morning…” she managed to utter softly, though her throat constricted and her chest tightened.

Petra’s smile dropped from her face and she took a good look at her cousin. Krista looked uncomfortable and she was shaking. What was going on?

“What happened Krista? What’s wrong?” Krista shook her head and bit her tongue. If she attempted to reply she would burst out crying. “You’re really starting to worry me. What happened?” Petra pulled Krista into her arms, but that only worsened the situation and pushed Krista over the last edge of her control.

Feeling the familiar, comforting arms encircle her, and wishing they were a longer, stronger pair, Krista sniffled once and then released a broken sob that echoed down the hall. Her shoulders began to shake and she buried her face against Petra’s shoulder as she grabbed fistfuls of her shirt.

“Whoa now, tears?” Petra gently guided them over to the closest bench and helped Krista sit down. “Talk to me.” Krista merely started to sob harder, her voice sounding pitchy and thick with emotion. “Or you can cry…” Petra furrowed her brows and patted Krista’s head with one hand as she gave her back a soothing rub with the other.

After a long while of Krista’s sorrowful crying she managed to calm down enough to just quiet tears, and rested heavily against her cousin’s warm side.

“Better?” Petra asked softly. Krista nodded. “Now what hurt you enough to make you cry so hard? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry like that before. Actually, I’ve never seen you cry at all before.”

Krista’s trembling died down but her breathing remained heavy. The upset had made her shoulder ache more, making Krista clench her teeth in an attempt to distract herself from the pain. “Y…” She ran her tongue over her dry lips and attempted to speak again. “Ymir broke my heart,” the blonde stated simply, which was about the best summary of the situation she could give at present.

“Broke your heart? You really had a thing for her, huh?” Petra shifted their position and lifted Krista’s face. “What did she do to break your little heart?”

Krista looked up into warm, accepting eyes and sniffled again. Tears pooled at her eyes once more and leaked out, falling down her face.

“Oi, what are you two doing out of class? The professor won’t be impressed,” one of the other professor’s spoke up after noticing the two and walked up to them. When he got a look at Krista’s face he cringed and frowned in worry. “On second thought, Petra, why don’t you take her home? I’ll let Pixis know that you have girl issues.”

Petra smiled and thanked him. Why hadn’t she thought about that in the first place?

“Krista, would you like to leave? You don’t have to stay here and we can just go to my place. We can talk there, if you’d like.”

Krista was about to refuse, but then she felt a wave of tears overcome her and simply nodded weakly and allowed Petra to pull her up and out of the building.

“We can go in my car and fetch yours later. I don’t want you driving in this condition.” Petra opened the passenger door of her car for Krista, helped her climb in and then clicked her seatbelt into place. Krista looked so out of it that she barely even noticed, and just slumped to the side and rested her head against the window when Petra closed the door.

The ride was quite, and Petra kept glancing over at Krista in worry every few minutes. But they made it and with some coaxing Petra managed to get Krista inside, wrapped in a blanket and settled comfortably on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands.

“When you’re ready, and if you want to, we can talk.” Petra said gently from her seat beside Krista on the couch. She kept a hand on her back and softly rubbed it up and down in comfort, and it seemed to help Krista remain partially calm. She still looked like she was struggling to breathe and struggling to keep from crying.

“Thank you.” Krista whispered. Her hands slackened around the cup and she kept a dull, lifeless stare into the steamy, brown liquid. It didn’t look appetising and she really didn’t feel like putting anything in her stomach. In fact, she felt sick.

“I won’t press you for answers, but I'm really worried about you cuz. No matter what it is, you can talk to me about it.” When Krista nodded Petra gave her hair a playful ruffle. “Now you drink that and warm yourself up while I take a shower. I was late this morning so I never got around to it, and since we get to skip school today I might as well.” Petra gave her a gentle squeeze on the shoulder, her uninjured one thankfully, and disappeared into the other side of the house.

Krista watched her go and released a sigh. If it wasn’t for Petra’s concern and comfort Krista knew that she would have been worse off in the sense of emotional sanity. At least she felt a tiny bit better. Not much, and hardly anything to write home about, but slightly better nonetheless. She would tell her eventually, when the insistent burning tug at her chest ceased and she could breathe normally again. For now Krista focused on forcing the hot chocolate down, grimacing at the unwelcomed rumble of her stomach. When everything had been drained she stood up, blanket puddling on the couch, and took the cup into the kitchen, only to feel her breath come short and her heart clench painfully.

She remembered meeting Ymir in her human form for the first time, in her kitchen. For some reason a kitchen strongly reminded her of the brunette, and a flash of golden iris from the previous night glowed in front of Krista’s eyes and then dimmed. Her body hummed warmly, but her heart thrummed in pain. She longed so desperately to see that passionate, smouldering gaze again. It was a gaze that burned through her with love. Could Ymir really have faked that, or was she being stupidly stubborn again?

Krista hoped with all of her heart that it was merely the brunette’s inability to accept anyone into her heart. But even if it was that, the blonde felt that she could no longer stand underneath that fire. After falling so damn hard – because she had, she fell so deeply in love – and suffering the most agonizing heartbreak of her life, she was scared to put herself in the position of suffering more of it. She loved Ymir, but if the brunette changed her mind and decided to be honest, she would have to be the one to make the first move and initiate anything. Krista wouldn’t, because she couldn’t anymore.

“Krista? Where’d you wonder off to?” Petra called from the lounge.

Had she really been lost in thought that long? “I’m here!” Krista walked back into the lounge, still feeling terrible but confident that she would be able to speak now. “Petra, uh… I… I think I can talk about it now…”

Petra’s smile dropped in concern. “Are you sure? I won’t demand it.”

Krista nodded and sat down on the couch. “It’s a long story, and you’re the first person I'm telling it to.”

Petra’s eyebrow cocked up and she seated herself beside the solemn blonde. “Oh?”

“You know Ymir, but you don’t know the truth about her.” Krista took a deep breath and curled her hands together against her chest. “The first time I met her was when she jumped out in front of my car during a rainstorm. I nearly hit her but stopped just in time, and I took her home.” Petra tilted her head in confusion, not understanding how that could make sense or how it applied here, but bit her tongue and waited. “I took the husky home and fed it, but I woke up at midnight and found Ymir in my kitchen, naked. She’s that husky you told me about, the one I ‘found’. We don’t know how or who did it, but somehow Ymir has been cursed and she turns into a dog and–”

“Wait, wait, wait. Give me a second here. She _turns_ into a _dog_? How is that possible?”

Krista shrugged and winced at the tug at her wounds. “I don’t know, I really don’t. But it’s true, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

“Okay, so the tall hottie turns into a mutt, what happened with her to turn you into this mess?”

Krista sniffled. “From the first day I felt attracted to her, and over time it deepened and I fell in love. She kissed me, because I guess this curse is messing her body up. Oh, she got fevers every night.” Petra’s eyes were quite wide after hearing the attraction part. “But we started investigating possible suspects, her past lovers, to see if any of them were the ones that had cursed her – she has many, and most of them hate her. I saw how she left each one after having sex with them.” Petra nearly fell off of the couch when her innocent, prudish, naïve cousin said the word ‘sex’ so carelessly. “I wanted to be that intimate with her, I really did. Especially after that kiss. It was like she had a constant invisible hand around my heart. But I was scared. I love her and I never wanted her to leave me after getting what she wanted. We got really close, though, and she stopped being so difficult and started letting me into her heart. And last night we… we…” Krista blushed, finally realizing the topic she was now touching on, of what Ymir had been touching on…

“Don’t tell me…” Petra covered her mouth with her hands.

“We… we did it. We made love. It happened so fast that I never had time to think it through, and by the time she had me against the w-wall in the passage my mind was already blank and all I could understand was her.” The burn in her heart was two-fold. It hurt, but the memory of their wonderful moment was a precious, beautiful one. “She even bit me, and seeing this might make you believe me.” Hesitantly Krista exposed her shoulder and then peeled the bandage back, showing her puncture wounds.

Petra gasped. “Oh my… Krista! That’s… I’ve never seen a bite like that.” Petra scooted closer and gently got a grip on Krista’s shoulder. She leaned down and examined the bites carefully. She deduced that a dog could have done that, but the bites were spaced too closely together to be from a dog’s long jaw. It looked… human, with a twist. “This doesn’t prove it, but it makes me almost believe it. Does it hurt?”

Krista nodded. “It aches so bad now. When I woke up last night it didn’t hurt that much, though, not even when she bit me.”

“But why would she bite you?” Krista shrugged and Petra looked off into space as she thought about it. There was a certain possibility. “Well, if what you’re saying is true… then I think she marked you.”

“Marked me?”

“Yeah, like put a physical mark on you that says ‘she’s mine’. She claimed you.”

Krista quickly covered her shoulder and lightly rested her hand over it. “I don’t think that’s it…”

“But wait,” Petra held her hands up, her face set in shock. “You had sex with a dog?!”

Krista blinked. “What?! I… No!”

“But you said she’s been turned into a dog. How…?” Petra scrunched her eyebrows together.

“She turns back into a human every midnight until three. We don’t know why it’s like that either, but I guess it’s the rules of her curse, or something.”

“And what if your feelings are one of these rules?” Petra asked after quickly shaking her shock off. “What if the curse is that anyone close to her will be physically attracted to her, and fall in love? I mean, if you say that her exes hate her then they know about her commitment issues…”

Krista’s eyes widened slightly. “That… but no, I… I love her. I don’t care if it’s because of the curse or not. I feel so bound to her. And that’s why this hurts me so much.”

“She rejected you, didn’t she?”

Krista nodded. “This morning I hoped things had changed and she would admit her feelings, but she came home after going back to her house and acted like what we had meant nothing. She said some really hurtful things to my face and I… I escaped because I don’t know how to handle it.” Krista started tearing up and sniffled loudly. “I-I-I love her but she d-doesn’t love me and it h-hurts.”

Petra quickly pulled Krista into her arms and let the blonde cry on her shoulder. “Shhh, you cry it out. I'm sure there’s a reason. Did you tell her how you feel?”

“N-n-not directly.”

“Then why don’t you see how she acts around you during this week and confront her about it if you feel there’s a chance? I’m not saying that it’s true, but she might feel the same and is just scared too.”

Krista started to sob. “W-why would she love s-someone like me? She was right when she said that!”

Petra felt a twitch of anger start in her brow and pushed her rage down so that she could comfort Krista. That Ymir better be in some stupid form of ‘she’ll be better without me’ belief instead of actually not loving Krista, or Petra was going to seriously confront her with a shaking fist. Dog curse or not.

“Look, you’re an amazing girl and I bet she knows it. Do what I said and wait it out, let things cool down and then have a serious, adult talk with her. Ask her what she really feels and look into her eyes when she answers. You’ll see if she’s honest or not.”

Krista calmed and yawned. “Okay.”

Petra applied a loving kiss to her forehead and then moved her back to look her in the eyes. “I know it’s still early, but you did a lot of crying. Go to sleep, you can stay the night and I’ll drop you off tomorrow. Is that alright?”

Krista nodded. “Thank you. I don’t think I could face her right now anyway.”

“Thought so. Get in my bed and don’t come out until you stop looking like a zombie. And when I get back from my part-time job I’ll make something for us to eat.”

Krista nodded lamely and dragged her feet as she made her way to Petra’s room, per her order. As she went the older blonde watched her go with a small smile, but concerned eyes.

“Oh Krista, you just had to have a fiery first love. What am I going to do with you?”

XxX

Hours later, in the very early hours of the morning, Ymir stumbled down the passage breathing heavily and sweating. Her body, naked from her earlier transformation back into a human – after Krista had left, Ymir had returned to her husky body – glistened in the moonlight pouring in through the windows and down the hall. She grabbed at her chest, stumbling forward once more, and mentally begged her lungs to work faster.

When she neared the master bedroom, there was only one thought on her mind as she felt her chest tighten painfully and quickly grabbed the doorframe to prevent her near fall.

“Krista.” Ymir uttered painfully. “Krista!”

Her body trembled with uncontrolled anger as well as anguish and turmoil.

_I’m such an idiot._

_You shouldn’t love her._

_But she’s so wonderful, I shouldn’t let her get away._

_But you fucking can’t love her._

_I LOVE HER._

_There is no place for love in your life._

_But I want there to be a place for her._

_She’ll find someone else, someone better._

_I don’t want her with anyone else!_

_YOU DON’T LOVE HER._

_I… I don’t love her._

_But you know that’s a lie._

“Shut up!”  Ymir screamed, voice thick and husky, too deep. “SHUT THE HELL UP!” She roared furiously, hand tightening dangerously around the wooden doorframe. With her free hand she covered the side of her face, covering one of her red, crimson eyes.

 _Krista,_ “Krista…” _Krista!_ “KRISTA!”

With another anguished roar, Ymir’s hand tightened and the wood underneath her fingertips cracked and splintered.

Exhausted, in pain and running a dangerously high fever, Ymir dropped to her knees and stared at the floor with wide, shocked and worried eyes.

“Krista, why didn’t you come back? Where are you?”


	20. Chapter 20

_Burning fingers trailed against her tightened muscles, bleeding passion across her skin. She sucked in a deep breath as warmth enveloped her and lips curved to her own. Together lips moved and tongues caressed as bodies pressed together and pulses raced in sync._

_“Ymir.” Krista moaned throatily, running a hand down Ymir’s strong, sweaty back._

_“Yes, my little Krista?” Ymir husked against her ear and moved in such a way that Krista arched into her and cried out in delight._

_“I-it’s my first time…” Krista gasped out through the pleasure._

_Ymir’s movements never faltered but emotion clouded over her face, drowned in her eyes, and she caught Krista in another deep, wonderful kiss. When they broke apart for air, their foreheads pressed together and Ymir stilled. “Mine too,” she said softly, eyes closed. “Like this, it’s mine too…”_

Krista’s eyes shot open and a gasp escaped her lips. She was greeted with nothing but darkness and an empty ceiling. Her heart pounded, sweat caused her clothes to stick to her skin, and her body tingled. The blonde turned onto her side and felt a pool of tears slither down her face. How could she have been crying and turned on at the same time, because of that dream?

“Ymir…” Krista sniffled loudly and threw the blanket off of her sweaty body. It was cold because it had rained the previous night, but she felt hot. So damn hot and sweaty.  Would Petra mind if she took a shower?

“What time is it?” she softly asked herself and glanced up at the clock on the wall. It glowed back and Krista sighed. Only 4 a.m. She had only managed an hour of sleep, because she kept either crying or just lying in the foetal position while thinking of Ymir and trying not to at the same time.

Krista stumbled onto her feet and padded into Petra’s bathroom. Luckily it had a shower, a really nice one too. The colour scheme was black and white, and the lights could dim which Krista took advantage of. When the water was warm enough she climbed in and stood still under the spray. Water pelted down on her shoulders, sliding down her back and falling gleefully to the floor. It was very soothing, but it cleared Krista’s mind and all she could think of was Ymir. All she could see were those haunted, lost eyes and that sexy, defiant grin. She wanted so bad just to go back to how things were, but she knew they couldn’t.

After what had happened between them, after having sex, things would never be the same. Everything had changed for both of them. For Krista it had deepened her feelings so much that she felt incredibly attached to Ymir. She felt like she needed her more than to breathe. But Ymir obviously didn’t feel that way, so Krista had to decide what she was going to do.

 _What do I do?_ she thought. _Do I go back and tell her to leave? But I can’t let her do that. She has a house, but not a home. She has no one, and even though that’s her own fault, I can’t stand imagining her being all alone. Especially not with this stupid curse. Can I let her stay, though? I love her, I really do. Just looking at her will hurt, but I can’t have that face gone. I need her._

Krista lifted her face and allowed the hot water to glide along her skin.

_I should let her stay, but pretend like our night together never happened. That way we can go back to some form of how we used to be. I’ll still help her get rid of the curse, and enjoy her company until then. And then when she is back to normal, we’ll say goodbye and part ways._

Krista nodded and turned the shower off.

_Yeah, I’ll do that. Ymir has already decided to pretend, so why can’t I? No more running away. I’ll go home and apologise for staying away, and then things will slowly return to normal._

She climbed out of the shower, feeling only slightly better that she had decided something, and grabbed a towel. She now had a plan, and even though she was still really emotionally unstable, Krista was determined to stick to it and make things work. She could never abandon Ymir, even if the brunette would abandon her.

XxX

After leaving a note for Petra that she felt better and had a plan, Krista made her way back home. She and Petra had retrieved her car the previous afternoon, luckily. It was already 7 a.m. and she needed to get home quickly to get ready for her day. The shower at Petra’s house had helped, but Krista had to put her clothes from the previous day back on. She really needed clean clothes, and to talk to Ymir.

With each second closer to her house Krista’s stomach did painful twists. She was nervous to the point of nausea, and resisted the deep urge to turn her car around and drive the other way. But she couldn’t and eventually parked in her driveway. The walk to the front door proved an even harder task, but that was eventually accomplished with a lot of inner struggle and an almost self-slap.

Krista unlocked her door and stepped inside on shaky legs. Her lip trembled too, her eyes slightly filled with tears, but she held them back. When she locked the door behind her and went into the lounge she found Ymir standing in the centre of the room, looking at her with intensity.

“Hey Ymir!” Krista chirped with false cheerfulness.

 _You… didn’t come home last night…_ Ymir mentally stated hesitantly. Her brown tail curled around her and she looked down at the floor.

“Oh, uh, I slept over at Petra’s house. I’m sorry for worrying you!”

_I wasn’t worried. Why would I have been worried? I was just hungry because I didn’t have you here to cook for me._

Krista swallowed the sudden burning in her throat and offered a nervous giggle. “Well I’m here now, are you hungry?”

Ymir’s eyes widened, but Krista didn’t notice since she had already turned and left for the kitchen. Ymir never noticed Krista’s tightly balled fists or the shaking of her shoulders.

 _No, I’m not hungry anymore._ Ymir answered as she entered the kitchen behind the blonde.

“Me neither! What a coincidence!” Krista laughed again and tightly gripped the edge of her shirt. She bit her lip and stared down at the floor, because she couldn’t stand to look into Ymir’s burning eyes. “Uh… I just came back early to change, then I’ll head out.” Krista offered a smile and walked through the house to her bedroom. Ymir followed and when Krista started undressing, the husky looked away and shifted uncomfortably.

_Listen, about–_

“Ymir!” Krista interrupted and turned to face her. “Would you like to search for ex number 8? We couldn’t find her, remember? Maybe if you think about it you can remember something that could lead us to her. I mean, she might be the one.” Krista quickly changed, grabbed a jacket and carefully pulled it over her shoulders. The bite had hurt earlier, but it didn’t hurt much now, strangely. The moment she stepped through the front door it was like her wounds just stopped aching.

_Oh, yeah. Okay._

“Great! Let me know if you remember anything when I get back. I have to go now.” Krista hurried out of the room and into the lounge, where she grabbed her bag and car keys. “I’ll definitely be home tonight, so don’t worry about being hungry again. Bye!” And then she disappeared out of the front door and was gone.

Ymir sighed in irritation and slapped her tail against the floor. _Goddamnit Krista, you’re not making this any easier._

XxX

The rest of the day both Ymir and Krista never ate and hardly rested. Krista tried to drown herself in her school work and day job while Ymir tried to think of where her missing ex could be. At some point she remembered something and impatiently waited for Krista to get home to tell her. She wanted to leave as much as she wanted to stay and she wanted the curse lifted as much as she didn’t. It was a mash of conflicting emotions, and it was driving Ymir insane.

Eventually though reluctantly Krista arrived home and welcomed Ymir with sickening cheerfulness. Ymir could see that Krista was forcing it and it bothered her, but she decided to ignore it for now and focused on telling Krista what she had managed to remember.

_I remembered something! Jasmine was always talking about me moving in with her, at this new house that she had bought before I left her. I completely forgot about it._

Krista blinked as she absorbed the news and put her bag, keys and jacket down on her computer desk. “Well, that was quick. Do you remember the address?” Ymir nodded. “Great! When would you like to go and check it out?”

Ymir shrugged her shoulders. _Whenever. Doesn’t bother me._

Krista nodded and resisted a sigh. Why was Ymir always so stubborn about admitting what she really wanted? “So are you hungry?”

They spent the rest of the night in awkward silence and when they did talk Krista faked cheerfulness, like always. They decided to investigate ex number 8, Jasmine, the next day after Krista came home.

XxX

When the time came to search ex number 8 and either cross her off the list or find out how she did it, Krista sat very nervously behind the wheel of her car. She was finding it very difficult to keep on smiling when all she wanted to do was cry. Ymir continued to act cold and aloof, and Krista caught herself hoping that Ymir would have a change of heart and would apologise, or something. But nothing of the sort happened.

With Ymir sitting beside her in the passenger seat, Krista followed her instructions and they drove to where Jasmine hopefully lived. It took longer than anticipated to get there, but they did eventually.

It was a nice house; high fence, beautiful trees and a big pool in the front. When Jasmine answered – to their relief – she was friendly and seemed completely sane. She was only slightly taller than Krista, but had brown eyes and tan skin. When she had noticed Ymir she immediately got down onto her knees and petted the husky while answering Krista’s questions with honesty.

They left soon after and crossed her name off of the list.

“I guess it wasn’t her.” Krista commented softly to disturb the silence.

 _Yeah,_ Ymir replied, _guess so._

“Is there anyone else we could check?”

_I don’t know, Krista. I don’t know what this is or who did this. I'm going to be stuck as a fucking dog forever. I’ve probably lost my job already and my house will get sold! I’ll end up having to stay with you as your damn pet until I eventually figure out how the fuck to stay human._

Krista tightened her hands around the steering wheel. “’Pet’? Ymir, I’ll never treat you like a pet.”

_I’ll feel like it whether you do or not._

“But I won’t. We’ll figure this out and get you back to normal.”

Ymir growled from her side of the car. _Don’t go and promise things you can’t guarantee, little girl. Look where it got you the first time._ She curled up and buried her face against her fur, in the worst mood imaginable because she felt damn fucking guilty for treating Krista like that but unable to treat her any other way. Being kind to her now would only make the attachment worse, and Ymir wouldn’t have that. It would be easier if Krista was glad to see the back of her. Ymir was surprised that Krista hadn’t kicked her out yet, and even more pained that she tried so hard to act like nothing was wrong.

Krista swallowed hard and kept her gaze forward. She offered no response and simply focused on getting them home so that she could curl up in bed and cry until she fell asleep.

XxX

The next few days carried on the same with Krista trying her best to act normal, helping Ymir and tending to her needs. As the nights passed Krista’s behaviour troubled Ymir more and more. Her resolution to push the blonde away crumbled slowly as she saw Krista grit through cheerful smiles and forced conversation.

And it made her damn furious.

The more Krista hid her true feelings and pretended, the more Ymir became annoyed at it. Even though she was doing exactly the same, she always figured Krista for the honest type. It also grinded on her nerves that Krista acted like she didn’t want to punch her or break down and cry. She didn’t deserve the kind treatment or the food and shelter. But Krista gave it anyway.

On Friday, when Krista arrived home and did the usual ritual of false happiness and cheerful greetings, Ymir felt her chest tighten painfully. She kept her eyes trained on Krista’s face the entire night, while the blonde tended to her homework and then started dinner.

Krista no longer woke at midnight, so she made food for them before going to bed and then had an early night.

Ymir didn’t respond to any of Krista’s attempts at conversation so the blonde stopped talking. But the brunette couldn’t stop staring at her face. Something was stirring inside of her; a mixture of pain, anguish, irritation and want. This entire week Krista had been so good to her even though Ymir could see how painful it was. The guilt she felt overshadowed the irritation, and Ymir struggled to keep from pulling the blonde into her arms – when she had arms – and profusely apologising for being such an asshole. It took all of her strength not to simply blurt out how stupid she was, but she tried to keep herself in check.

Ymir had to laugh at her own twisted sense of selfishness. Normally she would be quick to get the girl, but this was one girl she did not want to use and throw away, especially not after making the blonde think she had already done that. But goddamnit, sadness should have never been in Krista’s normally radiant eyes. Her smile should have never been forced and sad.

It was pulling at Ymir’s heart so bad, and not to mention the physical pain of resisting. Her body now knew Krista’s touch, her heart knew the love, but she was going without it. Every second she spent in Krista’s presence she craved to reach out and caress her cheek, draw her in for a sweet kiss that would lead to further, more passionate pleasures. It was actually physically painful, and each night when she turned Ymir was wracked with unbearable heat and a searing ache across her entire body. This Krista knew nothing of, obviously, but Ymir was now out of strength and hanging on the edge of her rope.

“The food is ready, would you like to eat here or in the lounge?” Krista asked softly, not meeting Ymir’s eyes that were still burning the back of her head.

 _Krista, how are you feeling?_ Ymir asked instead. Her chest felt inflamed and her mind screamed at her to shut up, but she couldn’t anymore. She couldn’t watch Krista hurt so badly, not because of something stupid she had done.

“I uh… feel fine. Why do you ask?” Krista pressed her hands down on the kitchen counter and her shoulders tensed.

_Don’t give me that bullshit. Be honest with me. How are you feeling?_

“I’m feeling fine, Ymir. Really.”

_No you aren’t, be honest._

“I am being honest.”

_You’re not, I can see it._

“Well you’re seeing wrong.”

_Just tell me!_

“What do you care?!” Krista yelled in anguish, surprising Ymir into silence. “What the hell do you care about how I _feel_?” She sucked in a deep breath and covered her mouth to muffle her sobs, but her shoulders began to shake as the tears came and she could no longer control it. Ymir watched with just as much anguish, and made her mind up.

Goddamnit she wasn’t going to run away anymore. She would confess everything and tell Krista what she truly felt, even if she would be rejected. She could no longer stand there and see how she was breaking something so precious. As unworthy as she felt to, Ymir was going to tell her that she really did love her, and really did care.

_Krista, no I really do–_

Suddenly the doorbell rang and interrupted Ymir’s heavy sentence. Krista pushed off from the counter, gave Ymir a pained look and then walked to the door while wiping her face off with her shirt. She answered the door, Ymir watching from the passage.

When the door opened a big, blonde man looked up and smiled brightly. “Krista! It’s been so long.”

Krista’s heavy breathing paused, her tears stopped and her face brightened. Behind them, Ymir glared bloody murder and prepared a vicious, angry bark.

“Reiner!” the small blonde exclaimed.


	21. Chapter 21

“Ymir, stop it! What’s gotten into you?” Krista dived for Ymir and wrapped her arms around her neck as the husky bared her teeth and barked. Reiner frowned and took a step away from the door.

“When did you get a dog? This one doesn’t seem that friendly…” He flinched at a particularly vicious bark and glanced around him for any escape route in case the dog decided to attack him.

Krista sighed and grabbed a fist full of Ymir’s brown fur. She gave it a rough pull, successfully garnering Ymir’s attention. The brunette stopped barking and growling and turned her head to stare agitatedly up at Krista’s face.

“Stop it, he’s a friend,” the blonde whispered furiously.

 _Doesn’t look like a friend to me._ Ymir internally growled back. She glared up at Reiner with her fangs still bared. An intense anger filled her chest and the urge to lash out and attack filled her senses. She could smell his fear and she fed on it. She didn’t even care why she felt so strange so suddenly and why it was so damn intense. All she knew was that she did not like the big, blonde idiot standing there by the door like he _owned_ Krista.

“Please behave.” Krista pleaded softly. Ymir met her eyes again and felt her anger calm, but blew an agitated breath out of her nose and pulled herself out of Krista’s arms, despite how wonderful it had felt to be against the blonde again. “Thank you.” Krista gave her head a quick stroke and then rose.

“Is it safe or do I need to make a run for it?” Reiner asked with a grin, eyes darting between Krista and the upset dog at her feet.

“I’m sorry Reiner, she’s never done that before. She won’t bite you or anything, so you can come in.” Krista shot Ymir a warning glance just for insurance.

Reiner puffed a sigh of relief and entered through the door. He shut it behind him, dropped his bag and then enveloped Krista in a tight, long hug, lifting her off of the floor. Krista giggled at the action and wrapped her arms around his neck, returning the hug just as tightly.

“I missed you.” Reiner whispered with a small smile.

“I missed you too!” Krista cheerfully replied, oblivious to the emotion in his voice, and heard Ymir growl again from behind them. Reiner heard it too and quickly returned the blonde to her feet. “So how long are you here for?” she asked after straightening her clothes and ushering for Reiner to follow her into the lounge.

“Uh, we’re stationed nearby so I can only stay until Sunday. I figured I’d spend the night here if that’s alright with you and then spend tomorrow night with Bert.”

Krista nodded. “Yeah, he really misses you.” She sat down on the couch and Reiner sat beside her, but Ymir was quick to jump up and situate herself between them, head rested on Krista’s lap. The blonde glanced down at her with a blush and very confused eyes. Ymir just gave her a look as if to say ‘what?’

“I guess he does.” Reiner answered. He glared at the husky, too scared to attempt to move it in case it ended up attacking him, what with the way it kept glaring at him. Why did Krista even get a dog? And why not something small and cute, like her?

“Reiner, he _really_ misses you.” Krista added with emphasis. She watched his face for any realization, but there was none. She sighed. Was he always going to be oblivious?

“I’m sure everyone missed me! But I missed you most of all.” Reiner tried to sound as sincere as possible and leaned closer. He tried to lay his arm out across the couch back but Ymir slapped him with her tail and bared her teeth, making him retract his arm and swallow.

“Aw, that’s sweet!” Krista smiled and gave his knee a pat, missing the blush that followed on the stocky man’s normally stoic face. “Are you hungry?” she then asked after. As Reiner stuttered a reply and then looked at her dreamily while Krista went into the kitchen, Ymir glared.

_Is Krista that stupid? Can’t she see the lust eyes this guy has for her? Jesus, the way he stares at her makes my blood boil. Krista is MINE goddamnit._

“So how have you been Reiner?” Krista called from the kitchen.

“Uh, fine, really. The army isn’t that bad once you get used to the routine.”

 _She doesn’t care, jerkface,_ Ymir grumbled in her mind, not caring if Krista could hear.

“Uh,” Krista returned to the lounge with an apologetic smile. Before saying anything she checked to see if Ymir was behaving and noticed the brunette had taken to sitting at the very edge of the couch, far away from Reiner who had scooted to the opposite edge too. Why was Ymir acting so strange? “Would you rather like to go out to eat? Somewhere nice maybe?” Krista sheepishly scratched her cheek, trying to hide the fact that the food she had been making for herself and Ymir had burnt while they had been arguing.

Reiner’s eyes widened slightly but he grinned and nodded excitedly. “Sure! I’ll pay. Where would you like to go?” He shot up from the couch and fumbled his way over to Krista. The shine in his eyes pissed Ymir the hell off.

 _It isn’t a damn date, you moron. She burnt the food. Can’t you smell it?_ Ymir grit her teeth and followed them to the front door.

“I went to this restaurant a while ago with the others, we could try there.” Krista suggested. She smiled angelically, not realizing how it made Reiner transfixed and then blush.  

“That’s fine, anywhere is fine. Whatever you want.” He smiled charmingly and stood way too close to Krista for Ymir’s liking.

“Let’s go then.” Krista opened the door and stepped out. As Reiner stepped out he glanced behind him and glared at the husky. “Uh, I just need to do something quick. Get in the car so long and I’ll meet you in a minute.” Krista said and smiled innocently. Reiner blushed again and nodded.

“Yeah, sure! Of course.” He grinned as he walked down the porch steps and towards the car. I want to marry her, he thought with a blush.

Ymir rolled her eyes and was about to step out too but Krista stopped her. “You have to stay here, Ymir,” Krista said sternly.

Ymir’s eyes widened. _What!? You can’t expect me to stay here while you go off with that ape!_

“I can do what I want and dogs aren’t allowed. It shouldn’t bother you though, so wait until we get back and I’ll feed you when Reiner is asleep.”

 _No, wait. You can’t–_ But Krista had already closed the door. _Krista!_

Ymir stood up and leaned against the door as she barked and growled. Goddamnit, how could Krista have just left like that? Ymir’s mind clouded over with anger and panic. Eventually she stopped barking and started pacing around the house.

_What if this is it? What if she realized that idiot is in love with her and wants to be with him? I lost my damn chance. Goddamnit. I was just about to stop being an asshole! What do I do? Is this really how it’s all gonna end? I can’t just lose her._

Ymir made a multitude of agitated noises and loud scratches on the floor. She couldn’t stand the thought of Krista, _her_ Krista, out there enjoying dinner with some _guy._ Why had she even been so stupid?

There was no way she was going to sit back and let what was hers get taken from her. She was done pushing the blonde away. Even if she still felt like she didn’t deserve her, she was going to end this and make Krista hers in every way, permanently.

 _I won’t let him take you,_ Ymir growled to herself, _I won’t let you go._

XxX

Some hours later Krista and Reiner returned, laughing and playfully mocking each other as the smaller blonde unlocked and opened the door for them. When they entered Krista took a quick glance around for a familiar figure, but didn’t find it.

“That was really nice,” Reiner commented with a smile and pulled Krista in for an awkward one armed hug and blushed slightly when the blonde’s small arms gave him a squeeze around the waist in return. He hoped she felt his rock hard abs. “So… uh… Krista, before I leave do you think we could…” Reiner noticed that Krista was no longer paying attention to him and frowned. She was already walking into the lounge, looking for something. “Hey, what are you looking for?”

Krista looked up in surprise and remembered that Reiner was still there. “Oh! Sorry. I’m just looking for the dog…”

Reiner visibly startled and looked around warily. He had forgotten about that damn mutt. It could be hiding anywhere just waiting to pounce, or something. “Would you like me to help you look?” the blonde man asked hesitantly.

Krista shook her head. “No! Just stay here and I’ll look for her. But stay here, okay? Don’t leave the lounge.” Krista started for the passage as she spoke and glanced over her shoulder to see if Reiner understood. When he nodded, though with a bit of confusion at why he had to stay in the lounge, Krista smiled and hurried off to look for a certain missing troublemaker. It wasn’t exactly midnight yet, but Krista couldn’t afford to let Reiner walk in on Ymir if she was turning or doing something strange. Where was she anyway?

“Ymir?” Krista called out. She searched all of the rooms, her bedroom last, but found no trace of the brunette. Eventually she gave up with a sad sniffle and curled her hand against her chest, just above her aching heart. She missed Ymir more than anything, and the worry that the brunette had decided to leave was now filling her mind. She could have easily climbed out of a window if she had really wanted to.

“Find it?” Reiner asked casually. He sat on the three-seater couch and nodded his head for Krista to take a seat too. One of his legs was perched on the other, and his long, muscled arm relaxed along the top of the couch. Krista shook her head and occupied the single couch, much to Reiner’s disappointment.

“No, I think she’s hiding somewhere.” Krista folded her hands together on her lap and glanced down at them with a trembling lip. Due to Reiner’s sudden appearance she had managed to distract herself for a few hours and forget that the love of her life basically threw her away. Well, Ymir never wanted her in the first place. Krista sighed.

They remained silent for a long while, Reiner awkwardly glancing around the room. It had been a long time since he had been in Krista’s house. They had been friends since early childhood and all throughout the years they had attended sleepovers at the other’s house. That stopped when they hit puberty, of course. As they both grew into teenagers Reiner had developed intense feelings from a crush on Krista that he had harboured since their toddler days. Because of their close friendship he had always been too scared to confess. Losing her would suck. But they were adults now, and Krista hadn’t dated anyone in a long time, if she had at all. She didn’t seem to have anyone in her life, so Reiner knew that now was his chance to be a real man and ask the girl of his dreams out.

“So…” Reiner scratched his chin and nervously glanced over at Krista. She didn’t seem to hear him though and looked like she was in an entirely different world. Reiner assumed an unhappy frown and scooted to the edge of the couch. “Krista?”

Krista’s head snapped up. “Huh?”

“I said something but you didn’t hear me. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine! Sorry, I’m just tired.”

Reiner nodded, happy to accept the explanation. “Anyway, as I was saying.” He smiled brightly, white teeth sparkling in the light, and stared intensely into Krista’s crystal blue eyes. He felt his pulse race as his mind circulated with his confession. She looked so beautiful though, that he hesitated and swallowed hard. Krista’s skin was as pale as ever, but it glowed in the moonlight streaming in through the window. Her golden hair was up in a ponytail, leaving her pale neck out on display. She just radiated righteousness and Reiner couldn’t fathom how someone so pristine could exist. Of course, he was too infatuated to notice Krista’s quivering lip, dimmed irises and the dark circles under her eyes.

Krista sat up straighter, determined to listen to him and not space out again. She could look for Ymir once Reiner said whatever he needed to say which would hopefully only take a few seconds.

“You see, uh… I was wondering. I’ll be able to visit again in a month…” Reiner rubbed the back of his neck, nervous as hell and no longer able to stare openly into the Goddess’s eyes. “And maybe we could, if you’d like…” Reiner felt his hands begin to sweat and glanced up and over Krista’s head. “To go on a real da–” His sentence suddenly died on his lips and his eyes widened.

“Reiner?” Krista scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. Why did he look so stunned? “Are you okay?”

Reiner flicked his eyes from Krista’s face back to behind her, so Krista took the hint and turned around in her seat.

Standing in the passage way, leaning against the wall, was Ymir. She had nothing but a white button-up shirt, that was completely open and baring her sexy stomach, and a pair of Reiner’s boxers on. When the brunette pushed off from the wall, she ran a hand through her shaggy brown hair and glanced up. The fire in her eyes burned brighter, and she locked gazes with Reiner. The big blonde guy puffed up, and when Ymir levelled her gaze, flicked her eyes to Krista and back, titled her head and then broke out into a slow, devilish smirk, Reiner swallowed in dread.

Ymir started walking, her bare feet lightly padding across the floor and approached Krista who was too shocked to react. When she eventually reached the stunned blonde, she kept an angry gaze and a sadistic smirk trained on Reiner as she leaned down, grabbed Krista’s face – gently – and captured her lips for a passionate, heated exchange. Krista was too confused to resist and the moment Ymir’s warmth and taste washed over her, Krista involuntarily moaned and pulled Ymir down by the collar of her shirt. The blonde then lost her hands in Ymir’s hair, grabbing onto the locks for her dear life. When they eventually parted to breathe, Ymir licked her lips and glanced over at Reiner again, her smirk even more sadistic now.

“I didn’t know we had a guest, baby. You should have woken me up.” Ymir husked deeply. She straightened and took a step towards Reiner who kept a steady, confused and shocked gaze on Krista when he wasn’t openly glaring at Ymir.

Krista looked like she had just been given a high dose of drugs. Her eyes were glassed over and her lips were pink. Colour flooded her face, taking away the earlier unhealthy pale. Her chest heaved quite obviously, and she stared off to the side.

“I’m Ymir,” the brunette announced threateningly. She held her hand out, back completely straight so that she was at her full height, and tensed all of her muscles.

Reiner stood up and glanced down at the brunette’s hand. “Uh…” He glanced over at Krista, swallowed again and took Ymir’s hand. He cringed at the powerful squeeze and sneakily rubbed at his aching hand the moment Ymir released it.

“And you are?” Ymir demanded.

Reiner straightened and returned her glare. “Reiner. I’m a _close_ friend of Krista’s,” he announced with a stony expression.

Ymir grinned in amusement and cocked an eyebrow. “Oh?” She felt a tug and looked down to see that Krista had regained her senses and was standing too.

“Reiner, this is… Wait, Ymir!” Krista gasped and flushed bright red. “You are flashing!” She stood between the two and quickly grabbed each end of Ymir’s shirt to pull them together. “What are you doing?” she demanded softly. That kiss was still tingling on her lips, but she was so confused and hurt and worried and turned on. Her head was already pounding.

As Krista started to button the shirt up, Ymir smiled tenderly at her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m defending what’s mine,” she said softly, shooting a glance at Reiner as she did.

“What’s yours? What are you talking about?” Krista made it to the middle button but her hands were shaking so badly that she kept missing the button hole and sighed in frustration.

Ymir grabbed her hands to still them and used her free hand to lift Krista’s chin. “What I mean, Krista, is that I am defending you as mine.” She grinned sexily and chuckled at the intense blush that covered Krista’s face.

“Wh-what is this all of a sudden?” Krista exclaimed softly. She finally made it to the top last button and straightened Ymir’s collar.

Ymir gave her a wink. “I’ll explain later.” She leaned down and kissed Krista again, slipping her tongue into the blonde’s mouth much to her surprise and shock. Krista uttered a gasp and quickly stepped away from Ymir’s touch. She was enjoying this sudden change in Ymir, but she wanted to talk about what was happening before letting Ymir just use her again.

“Ymir! C-could you get something for us to d-d-drink please?” Krista squeaked out. She stumbled a few steps back and stared hotly at the floor.

Ymir put a hand to her hip and looked unimpressed. “Whatever you want, Princess.” She rolled her eyes at Krista’s flustered state but smirked in satisfaction. She made sure to glare back to Reiner and let him see her smirk before she turned and sauntered into the kitchen to obey her love’s order.

Once away from their eyes and behind the cover of a wall, Ymir shuddered and sucked in a deep breath. She spread her hands out on the counter and leaned heavily on them, breathing hard.

“I can do this. Just a little longer,” she told herself in reassurance. When she glanced up and looked out at the window, her face glowed with amusement and smugness. Oh she was having so much fun. It was terrifying too, and Ymir had to quiet her instinct to run, but she was really only struggling with her emotions for Krista. Before falling madly in bed with her she wanted to make a big show of how Krista belonged to her, and get it through Reiner’s head. Hopefully Krista wouldn’t be too upset, and wouldn’t try to make a big deal out of everything Ymir was going to do.

Ymir nodded encouragingly to herself and retrieved three beers from the fridge. She hurried back to the lounge but growled deeply in her chest at the sight that greeted her. Krista and Reiner had taken to sitting down again, but right beside each other. Krista still looked damn shocked and Reiner looked annoyed, but he took advantage of the blonde’s state and had an arm possessively around her shoulder.

Ymir slammed the bears down on the coffee table to get their attention. “I’m back,” she announced loudly with a glare at the blonde man who was glaring right back. She stepped forward, scooped Krista into her arms and then sat down on the single couch with Krista nestled in her lap. It happened so fast that no one had a chance to react until Ymir popped the cap from her beer bottle and took a long sip, swallowing loudly just for the hell of it. Reiner blinked, and then he frowned.

“Ymir…” Krista said softly, but she sounded upset. The brunette glanced down at her while taking another swig at the bottle. “What are you doing?”

Ymir downed the rest of the liquid and then set the empty bottle down on the table. She turned her eyes back to Reiner and ignored Krista’s question.

“So Reiner, how long have you known my Krista?” Both of the blondes reacted to the use of the word ‘my’, though each reaction was very different. Krista blushed and furrowed her brows, while Reiner glared and grit his teeth.

“Since we were 4. How long have you known her, a week?” He sounded less than pleasant.

Ymir grinned. “A bit longer than that. So what do you do for a living?” She narrowed her eyes, challenging him to explain how he was worthy to even know Krista.

“I’m in the army.” Reiner responded with mirrored narrow eyes.

“Interesting…” Ymir was about to ask another question but Krista nudged her shoulder and she glanced down with a frown.

“Ymir, stop interrogating him. He’s here to visit.” Ymir opened her mouth to respond but Krista covered it with her hand. “No. Stop talking.” She would have gotten off of Ymir’s lap but the brunette had a steel hold around her waist. Plus, it felt sinfully good to sit on her lap and lean against Ymir’s firm chest – though soft where necessary.

Ymir grinned toothily, exposed fang tips pressing into her bottom lip. That order had really angered her, but it turned her on more. She would listen and keep quiet, for now.

And she did. For the next hour Ymir remained absolutely silent, but she did glare a hell of a lot. As Krista and Reiner caught up on what they hadn’t been able to talk about at the restaurant Ymir did small things that both irritated Krista and drove her crazy.

The brunette would sweep a hand through her hair or pull a blonde lock behind her ear. Hidden to Reiner, Ymir would slip her hand under Krista’s shirt and caress her smooth back just to make her squirm. Twice Ymir interrupted their reminiscing to give Krista a full tongue and teeth kiss, which infuriated Reiner each time. But what bothered him the most was how willing Krista seemed to be, but he kept trying to convince himself that Ymir was somehow forcing herself on Krista and he had to try and save her.

It was now well past midnight and Ymir stood abruptly, Krista in her arms bridal style. “Okay, enough mindless conversation. We’re going to bed,” she announced and started for the bedroom.

“Ymir, wait… no… Reiner, you can use the guest room!” Krista shouted to him in a hurry.

“Will you be okay?” Reiner shouted back, leaning past the couch to watch the brunette carry off his childhood crush.

Krista hesitated for a second, swallowed, but smiled and nodded. “I’ll be fine. Goodnight!” The bedroom door slammed shut behind them before Reiner could even reply. As soon as Ymir placed her down on her feet Krista whirled around and glared hotly up at a still smirking Ymir.

“What the hell was that? All the k-kissing and t-t-touching!” Krista exclaimed angrily. “Why did you treat Reiner like some criminal? What is it with you?” She threw her hands up and then balled them into fists.

“Krista, I–”

“No, listen to me! I don’t understand you. One minute you tell me you won’t ever touch me again, and then the next you’re molesting me! I don’t know if you thought it was okay or not, but I am not some g-game for you to play with. I have feelings too!” As she raged, Ymir folded her arms and rolled her eyes. She let Krista go on and on for a few minutes, but then she grew tired of the rant.

“And I can’t believe you would–”

“Krista, shut up.” Ymir interrupted smoothly.

“W-what?” Krista’s face flushed with anger and she tightened her fists.

Ymir noticed, but didn’t act like she had. “I said, shut up.” In a sudden fast movement she grabbed Krista by the shoulders and pressed her up against the wall.

“Ymir, what are you…?”

“Shhh.” Ymir pressed her lips to Krista’s ear and swallowed. Her breathing was laboured and her body felt sticky with sweat. An intense desire seared across her skin and finally, in that moment, she could act on it. “I love you.” Ymir announced.

Krista completely froze from trying to push Ymir away, and simply rested her hands against her chest. “You what?”

Ymir sighed. “I said I love you.”

“You… you…”

Ymir leaned back to look into Krista’s widened eyes. “I love you, Krista. I want to make love to you again, if that’s okay?”

Krista’s heart clenched. “B-but you said… you…”

“What I said was bullshit. We made love, and this bite is proof.” Ymir gently moved the fabric of Krista’s shirt away from her shoulder and took the bandage off. “Does it hurt?”

Krista stared long and hard at her face. Surprisingly, it was open. Ymir looked open and vulnerable, and she looked terrified. Worry clouded her eyes as she leaned closer to get a better look at the bite. Krista also spotted some guilt there too.

She had been right from the beginning. Ymir was too scared and too stubborn to admit her real feelings, so out of a sense of self preservation and unworthiness, she had pushed Krista away.

“Krista, I know I said some bad shit, and I'm sorry for it. But I'm going to try and stop, because I love you.” Ymir spoke as she examined the bite marks. Her eyes widened when she noticed they were healing. Not rapidly, but enough for her to notice. “What the hell, Krista your–” When she turned her head to tell Krista about it she was suddenly ambushed and silenced by a pair of frenzied, soft lips crushing against her own.

Ymir’s eyes widened as Krista started to kiss her like a rabid animal, but then she closed them and allowed the blonde to push her back towards the bed. Along the way Krista pulled and tugged at her clothes and grunted in frustration at the material’s existence.

Ymir chuckled and fell back on the bed, Krista falling on top of her. She immediately swapped their positions and then sat up to pull her shirt off. When it was off and gone she glanced down and grinned at Krista who was equally topless.

“So, I was saying that–”

“Shut up.” Krista commanded. She had a passionate fury in her eyes that Ymir had never seen in her before, and it sent a thrill up her spine.

“Wh-what?”

“I said shut up, Ymir.” Krista repeated. She reached up and pulled Ymir down to give her another bruising kiss. “You aren’t getting off that easy, because I'm still really mad at you.”

Ymir tried to respond but ended up incoherently mumbling against Krista’s lips because the blonde had invaded her mouth with her tongue. When she eventually could speak, she did so with a deep, husky voice and heavy breath.

“You… know… I think I should make you mad more often,” she finally managed to say.

Krista frowned and pushed Ymir over. She then crawled on top of her and sat down over her tensed stomach. “Shut up Ymir,” she said sternly. “And don’t speak until I say you can.”


	22. Chapter 22

Reiner scratched the back of his neck and released a jaw-splitting yawn. He dropped his hand to his side and glared intensely at Krista’s bedroom door. After waking he had gotten up, climbed out of bed and made his way to his childhood friend’s room. Though he paused before entering and hesitated before knocking. What would he find inside? If it was just Krista in there, he wouldn’t mind. But after seeing how that brunette hag had dragged her off…

“Who the hell is she?” he muttered to himself.

Some random freak walks in and takes his Krista from him. Where had Krista even found her? What did she see in her? Reiner couldn’t fathom how this could have even happened in his absence. But most of all a thought kept him troubled.

“She likes girls?”

He decided to retreat from his earlier idea of barging into the room and instead went into the kitchen to get something to drink. All of the frustration, jealousy and anger had made him thirsty. Maybe if he was loud enough Krista would wake up and emerge, and he could ask her about what she thought she was doing.

Reiner grabbed a glass and filled it with water. As he downed it, swallowing loudly, Ymir entered the kitchen behind him and paused by the door. She watched him with narrowed eyes and folded her arms across her chest.

“Up so early?” she asked loudly.

Reiner startled and dropped the cup. It landed in the sink with a dull thud, but didn’t break – thankfully. “Jesus!” he whirled around and exclaimed, jaw clenched tightly after. “What the hell do you want?”

Ymir cocked an eyebrow at his distasteful tone and pushed off from the doorframe. “Nothing with you. I came to get some water for Krista.”

“What, because of all of that screaming she did?” he snapped back, not realising how completely different his comment sounded to how he had meant it.

Ymir smirked and laughed. “I’m sure you heard a lot of screaming last night.”

“That’s not… I meant… I meant the bad kind of screaming!” He flushed and clenched his fists tightly.

Ymir just laughed at him and hurried to get the glass of water she had been aiming for.

“Who the hell are you, anyway? What do you want with Krista?” Reiner watched Ymir move as she grabbed a glass, but refused to move away from the sink to let her pour water into it.

“You’re stupider than I thought you were,” Ymir said with a frown. “And can you move your ass? I have a blonde to get back to.”

“’A blonde’? I don’t even get why she’s fucking you. She doesn’t even know you! What street did she pick you up from?”

Ymir paused and gave Reiner a long, hard stare with Reiner staring just as intensely back. Slowly he started to smirk, thinking he had hit a sensitive nerve. But Ymir surprised him when she bent over and roared in laughter, smoothly wiping the grin from his face.

“Oh god if only you knew how true that was.” She wiped a tear of laughter from her eye and took a step towards him. “What Krista does and who she does it with is none of your business. Now get out of the way before I move you myself.”

Reiner folded his bulky arms across his chest and raised his chin in defiance. He would have locked his eyes onto Ymir’s but she suddenly shoved him to the side with way too much strength, sending him crashing into the opposite wall. By the time he recovered Ymir was already sauntering out of the kitchen, glass of water in hand.

“You… what the hell are you?!”

Ymir flashed a grin over her shoulder at him, but chose not to reply. It was too tempting to continue arguing with him. Ymir found his jealousy and anger damn hilarious, but there was already a certain anger directed at her that she wanted to very much get rid of. Hence the water.

When Ymir quietly slipped into the bedroom and then shut the door behind her, she walked over to Krista’s side of the bed and gently placed the glass down on the bedside table.

“Where did you disappear to?” Krista suddenly rasped. She was lying on her stomach, arms folded under the pillow where she still rested her head, though her eyes were open and staring up at Ymir. The blanket had slid down slightly to show the creamy curve of her pale, smooth back. Unable to resist it, Ymir crawled on top of her and pressed her lips against Krista’s warm shoulder.

“To get a glass of water for you,” she said deeply and huskily, placing calculated and soft kisses along Krista’s shoulders and the back of her neck.

Krista moaned softly and pressed her face into the pillow to muffle it. “I’m still mad at you,” she mumbled.

Ymir grinned. “Oh I know, darling. But you’re hot for me anyway.”

Krista blushed, though Ymir couldn’t see it. If she blushed any deeper the tips of her ears would turn pink and then Ymir would see it. “Of course I am,” the blonde finally commented.

Ymir decided she had her fill of Krista’s back and flopped over onto hers. Before Krista turned around to face her Ymir ripped her shirt and boxers off and then slipped under the blanket. When Krista was finally facing Ymir the brunette pulled her against her side and pressed her lips to her ear.

“What can I do to make you forgive me?”

Krista sighed in content and snuggled up more firmly against Ymir’s body. “Stop being a jerk.”

“I’ll try.”

“And be honest with how you feel.”

Ymir sighed.

“Don’t push me away anymore. I love you Ymir.”

Ymir silently swallowed and felt her chest warm and swell. She tightened her arms around Krista and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Goddamn woman, you are so demanding,” she muttered but sighed. “But I guess I’ve been enough of an ass to you.”

“Why did you do it, though?” Krista pulled her body up and sat on Ymir’s stomach. In another time Krista would have blushed furiously that her body was bare and exposed to Ymir who was definitely looking, but after the previous night, she felt no shame and no need to cover herself at all. The air was a bit chilly though, so she pulled the blanket around her shoulders and held them there.

“Do what?” Ymir folded her arms behind her head and attempted to keep her eyes trained to Krista’s face, but failed.

“Why did you push me away? You must have had some idea that I felt the same.”

Clear, honest blue eyes bore into golden brown, but Ymir bit her lip and looked off to the side. It was uncomfortable being so open to someone, but Ymir was trying to get used to it.

“I… have reasons.”

“What are those reasons? I think I deserve to know.”

“Since when did you demand personal stuff? What was that about not pestering me?”

“If you want me to forgive you, Ymir, then you will be honest with me.”

Ymir kept her eyes focused on the wall and rolled them. “What difference will that even make? I won’t be stupid again.”

“I want to understand why you felt the need to do that.” Krista put her hand against Ymir’s cheek and turned her head to look into her eyes. “Please, Ymir? You can talk to me. I will understand.”

Ymir shared a long glance with her, and then she sighed and threw her hands up. “I guess I have no choice, unless I really want to get kicked out.”

Krista smiled and settled down to lying again. She pressed her ear to Ymir’s chest and listened to the strong, steady heartbeat.

“I’ll be short about it, since I don’t feel comfortable with emotional shit.”

“Okay.”

Ymir trailed her hand down Krista’s back, slowly, until she reached her hip, and then she wrapped her hand around the curve. Krista shivered violently at the touch and found Ymir’s free hand. After intertwining their fingers she gave Ymir’s hand a kiss.

“Basically, I had a shitty childhood. My mother left when I was really young and my father was a real shit head, still is. A year after my younger brother was born she packed her bags and left, without taking me or even saying goodbye. Since my birth my father hated me, basically. He wanted a son, but as you know, I was born with a vagina. He kept his abuse sneaky when my mother was around, but when she left he no longer had to hold back. My brother became his only child and I was blamed for every damn thing that went wrong. I was blamed for my mother leaving because I was born. I had to slave for that man and for that brat he doted on. I was only 5 when it really started and I suffered years of constantly being told that I was useless and worthless and that no one would ever love or care for me, just because I was born.”

Krista listened silently and felt the comforting vibration of Ymir’s voice rumble in her chest. As she listened and the story unfolded, she felt her heart clench with pain that Ymir had to suffer such abuse. “Did he ever hit you?”

“Yeah, all the time. Drunk or not. He went through so many jobs and the worst beatings I ever received were right after he had been fired. He blamed me for that shit too.”

“Did he do anything… uh… more personal?”

Ymir growled softly and shivered in disgust. “God no. I would have killed him.”

“So you’re like this now because he treated you like that?”

“Probably. I don’t care about that anymore. I got the hell out of there when I was 16 and I haven’t seen him or his son since.”

Krista breathed quietly, thinking. Most of it made sense now. The way Ymir avoided commitment which, she now knew, was because she felt unworthy of a relationship but felt unable to go without another’s touch. But there was still one thing.

“Ymir, what did your mother look like?”

Ymir groaned. “Why are you asking?”

“Well… I was just wondering, because you seem to have a very specific preference…”

“Are you saying that my type in women is based on my mother’s appearance, because of my childhood and the desire I had to see her again?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s gross, Krista.”

“What? It was a good question.”

“I don’t have mommy issues. She had brown hair, like me. And she wasn’t short. Or had blue eyes.”

Krista sighed softly. “Okay, good to hear.”

“So? Am I forgive yet?”

“Not yet.”

Ymir groaned. “I stick with my statement that you’re damn hard to please.” Ymir took a breath and then she smirked. “At least, not when it comes to bedroom activities…”

Krista felt her face flush and lifted her head to give Ymir a threatening glare, but the brunette was too busy smirking to care. “Ymir, don’t even…”

“What?”

“Anyway, there’s one last thing I need to know.”

“Of course there is.”

“Do you still feel like that, like you aren’t worthy enough to be with me?”

Ymir stared up at the ceiling for a moment, not answering and simply thinking. “Well, not so much anymore. I don’t know why but after that first time we made love, I feel like I can’t leave you even if I tried.”

“But you did try.”

Ymir sighed and flipped them over, Krista onto her back and Ymir leaning over her. “I know I did, but it felt like something kept burning inside of my chest. It was insanely hard not to kiss attack you or beg for your forgiveness.”

“I… kind of feel the same. The bite you gave me kept aching, especially when we were physically apart.”

Both of them glanced at Krista’s shoulder for the wounds, but they were no longer there. Any trace that Ymir had bitten Krista was gone and all that was left was smooth, unharmed skin.

“It completely healed.”

Ymir reached out and ran a finger along the skin where she had marked. “I don’t know why I bit you but…” She started breathing faster, pupils dilating. Krista watched her face with worry and frowned when Ymir started leaning down. “I really want to…” She grabbed Krista’s shoulder with her right hand and tightened her left hand around one of Krista’s. “… do it again.” Softly, she pressed her lips to Krista’s skin, making the blonde shiver. Ymir opened her mouth and grazed her teeth across Krista’s shoulder. Her canine fangs weren’t out, though, and the desire wasn’t all consuming. She did bite softly though, but started trailing soft bites towards Krista’s neck, and then along her throat.

“D-do you think it’s because of this curse?”

“The whole biting thing?” Ymir mumbled in response, still softly biting Krista’s silky skin, making her way down towards her stomach, causing Krista to breathe a little faster with each movement downwards.

“Not just that, but everything. What if part of the curse is this intense attraction we have for each other?”

Ymir paused where she had been kissing around Krista’s navel and glanced up at her. “Do you believe that?”

“I… I’m not sure. It could be true.”

“Fuck the curse.” Ymir moved up until their noses brushed together. “I finally admitted that I love you. I don’t just love your body.” She pressed a finger to Krista’s chest. “But I love your heart too. Your personality. You annoy the shit out of me, but I love you. Curse or not, I love you.”

Krista teared up, unable not to. After going so long thinking that she would live her life alone and then thinking that Ymir didn’t feel the same, to hear her say it so honestly and with such intensity, it made all of the heartache up until that point worth it.

With a trembling hand Krista caressed Ymir’s freckled cheek. “I love you too Ymir, and I’ll love you forever.”

Ymir grinned but rolled her eyes. She leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together. “Look at us, being so damn cheesy.”

“I don’t care, because you really love me.”

Ymir smiled and kissed Krista softly on the lips. Krista kissed back with enthusiasm and wrapped her arms around Ymir’s neck to pull the brunette down even more. As the kissing deepened and curious hands began to wonder, both of them felt a familiar, frantic heat cover their skin.

“Wait, Ymir…” Krista pulled back from the intense lip-lock and tried to hold Ymir back from kissing her neck.

“What?” Ymir asked breathlessly. She wasn’t pleased that Krista had stopped.

“R-Reiner. He must be upset that I abandoned him last night. We can’t m-make love again…”

Ymir growled deeply, very much inhumanly, and pulled Krista’s leg up against her. “Forget about that idiot. We’re finally together. I’ll keep you in here for as long as I want.”

“But Ymir, we can’t… oh!” One of Ymir’s hands had disappeared down between their bodies, silencing Krista almost immediately.

“Krista, that man is in love with you. I will not let you leave this bed until I’ve completely marked you as mine.”

“Wha… He doesn’t feel like that!”

Ymir ran her lips along Krista’s jaw. “Of course he does. I noticed it the moment he looked at you.” She gently caressed Krista’s quivering thigh with her fingers, and then moved them slowly closer to where Krista needed them most. “But you’re staying here with me for the next few hours. I'm going to make you scream my name, so that he can hear, because you’re _mine_ and you’ll only ever scream for _me_.”

Krista gasped loudly and arched into the body atop hers after Ymir expectantly thrust her fingers into her.

“Y-Ymir…”

Ymir bit down on her shoulder, hard. “You’re _mine_ , Krista. _Mine_ ”

Krista shivered violently and clawed at Ymir’s back. “I love that possessiveness. So I’ll l-let this s-slide.” She bit down on her lip and moaned into Ymir’s shoulder.

Ymir grinned saucily. “Among other things.”

Krista was too lost in the heat and pleasure to register the joke or blush at the crudeness.

And from where he sat in the lounge, Reiner grimaced and glared down the passage way where low moans echoed across the floor.


	23. Chapter 23

Soft, brown fur brushed against warm skin as Krista swept her hand about in search of a missing body. What she did find, however, was a familiar but different kind of body. When she managed to crack her eyes open to confirm what her hand had discovered, Krista realized that Ymir had turned back into the husky – and was still asleep.

The blonde sighed and sat up in bed. She wished Ymir hadn’t turned because she really wanted to cuddle some more, but there was something very important that she needed to do, so really, there was no time for cuddling anyway.

It was already 10 in the morning and a certain someone was probably very upset and hurt.

With that thought sinking in her stomach, coupled with the disappointment of waking up next to a dog, Krista slipped out of the warmth of the blanket and bed and made her way to her bathroom where she washed the sweat – among other things – of the previous night and morning away. Once clean and fresh she clothed herself, but remained in her bedroom for a good few minutes.

It was partly because she wanted to wake Ymir up – she did not know why. The desire to communicate with the brunette was great, or to even just stand there and stare at her. And for a while Krista did just that – stare. But sounds from outside of the room brought her back to reality and slowly the guilt started to gnaw at her.

Poor Reiner. What must he be thinking?

Krista hesitantly exited the safety of her room and the comfort of Ymir’s presence and made her way into the lounge. There she found Reiner, who just walked out of the kitchen.

“Reiner!” Krista exclaimed happily despite her nerves and guilt.

Reiner paused at the sound of her voice and lifted a hand to the back of his neck before he swivelled around and rested his gaze upon his childhood friend. “Good morning, Krista.” he said softly. He smiled charmingly despite himself. “Did you, uh, sleep well?”

Krista blushed. “Can we talk?”

“We’re talking right now.” Reiner pointed out with a playful grin.

Krista giggled in response and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Mr Obvious. I mean about last night. I owe you some answers and a huge apology.”

Reiner wasn’t about to disagree so he nodded and pointed a thump at the couch. “Sit and talk?” he suggested.

Krista nodded. “Good idea.”

Both blondes took a seat, a distance from each other, and faced the other awkwardly. Reiner crossed his arms over his chest and spread his legs, one of them tapping insistently. He was just as nervous, if not more. After all, his visit had not gone as he had expected at all, and now he was left with a decision he had made and going through with it.

“Reiner… about last night, I’m really sorry for leaving you like that. It was incredibly rude of me.” Krista bowed her head slightly to hide the flush of shame on her face.

Reiner straightened his back. “Yeah, it was rude,” he agreed softly.

“I haven’t seen you in a long time and when you do visit I act like that. Not that it’s an excuse, but I’ve had a lot happening lately and something just came over me last night… I… don’t know what else to say to apologise.”

Reiner sighed and reached out with one strong, calloused hand. He gently pulled Krista into his arms and gave her a tight hug. “It’s okay, I forgive you. How could I ever stay mad at you?”

Krista relaxed and blew a relived breath. Reiner sighed and rested his chin atop the smaller blonde’s head.

“I’m glad.”

“But I hope that was a onetime thing. I mean, who was that woman? I don’t think I like this.”

“What do you mean?” Krista pulled back and tilted her head as she looked up into Reiner’s now stoic face. “Do you mean Ymir?”

“Ymir, yeah, that brunette thing you let paw at you.” Krista immediately felt her face flush with intense anger. “It’s cool that you date and stuff, but another girl? Really?” He looked off to the side, heart pounding.

“Reiner, you… you…” Krista felt the words jumble up in her head because of the intense anger filling her chest.

“You know no one will support that or even like it. You’ll be a freak. And why go for someone like _that_ when there’s a perfectly single guy right here?” Reiner pointed at himself, but still kept his gaze at his feet. “Where is she, by the way? Chasing cars or something?” The bulky man grinned to himself at the joke.

From the hallway a growl began and seconds later Ymir emerged, teeth bared. She hadn’t woken up that long ago and just happened to hear Reiner’s words before she showed herself. It wasn’t really what he had said that made Ymir boil inside like she suddenly was, because honestly she didn’t care what the man thought of her, but the fact that she could just _feel_ how upset it made Krista, it drove her absolutely mad with fury.

Slowly she approached Reiner, growling all the way. Krista glanced up in a panic and tried to make eye contact with Ymir to warn her not to be stupid, but the husky kept her angry gaze on Reiner who had begun to sweat.

“What’s wrong with this dog?” he asked shakily.

Krista was about to answer him but Ymir interrupted her with a bark. Immediately after Ymir lunged forward, teeth aimed directly at Reiner’s leg, but Krista was faster and managed to tackle her.

“Reiner, I think you need to leave.” Krista said over her shoulder. She kept her arms tightly around Ymir’s neck and though the husky struggled for a bit, Ymir stopped resisting and simply growled at Reiner.

“But Krista, we haven’t–”

“I said you need to leave.” Krista snapped. She glanced over her shoulder and glared fire into his eyes. Reiner huffed at the look and rose to his feet.

“Fine! If you want to throw away a good friendship for some freak stranger you don’t even know, then fine! But don’t come crying to me.” He grabbed his jacket from the couch arm and stormed towards the front door. “And don’t complain to me when this lesbian thing comes back to burn you!” he shouted lastly before leaving through the front door and slamming it behind him. As he walked angrily down the sidewalk he started compiling the long list of things he would complain to Berthold about. Berthold always listened to him, no matter what.

Back in Krista’s lounge, the blonde stood and sat back down on the couch. She released a long breath and covered her still heated face with both hands, leaning her elbows on her knees.

_That asshole! If you had just let me bite him I would have made him choke on his damn words! Bastard doesn’t know what kind of enemy he made! I swear, was he born stupid? What did you even see in him as a friend? Honestly, Krista, you have a knack for tolerating shitty people and–_

“Enough!” Krista yelled. She uncovered her face and glared at Ymir. The husky immediately quieted, ears folded against her head. “Reiner is a good man and he has been my best friend since we could walk. I love him like a brother and I don’t care what you say about him, he isn’t stupid or a moron.” Krista sighed again. “Ymir, that was no way to treat him. Especially after last night!

_Last night? After I finally admitted shit to you and we made the most awesome love ever?_

Krista blushed but pressed on. “You didn’t have to be so hostile the whole time! If you didn’t put me into whatever trance you did I would have scolded you! I can’t believe you Ymir.” She got onto her feet and headed for her room. “And you’re right, I do tolerate shitty people!” she shot at an already wounded Ymir and then slammed her bedroom door shut.

Ymir stared at the closed door for a moment, stunned. Goddamn, was Krista sexy when she was upset.

_Stupid Reiner coming here and messing things up for me!_

She started pacing around the room, ignoring the small voice in her head that instead turned the blame onto herself. She was stubborn to admit that all of the drama that happened was because of her own stupidity, and blaming Reiner was just easier. Sure, what he said to Krista was really crappy and it upset the blonde, but he wasn’t to blame for everything.

Ymir grumbled mentally, feeling her pride arguing with her conscience.

Luckily, though, Krista emerged from her room after thinking herself out of her fury. She returned to her earlier position on the couch and beckoned for Ymir to approach her.

“Ymir, I’m sorry.” Krista said softly. This time she sighed in exhaustion. “I won’t go back on my word that you were wrong, but I didn’t mean to shout at you like that. Or say that comment that I did. Do you forgive me?” She looked up and into Ymir’s widened eyes, waiting and scared.

Ymir paused for a long while, marvelling at the blonde’s kindness, as well as stupidity. Clearly Krista hadn’t done anything wrong, so why was she the one apologising? The brunette internally groaned. Damn Krista and her ability to make Ymir soft to the core. For once she felt responsible and guilty because of that.

 _No, you don’t need to apologise. I should._ Ymir hopped up onto the couch and sat down next to Krista, head resting on her leg. _I’ve been treating you like crap for so long because I was afraid of hurting you. That doesn’t even make sense. I was hurting you anyway. And now I get super jealous and screw up again. I’ll never like Reiner, but I’ll admit that I was being an ass to him last night._

Krista blinked, and then she blinked again, and again. “Ymir?” she asked softly. “Are you actually being honest and admitting that you’re wrong?” She was genuinely mystified.

Ymir rolled her eyes. _Yeah, midget. I’m sorry. So do you forgive me?_

Krista teared up and wrapped Ymir’s furry body in a big hug. “Of course I do!” she exclaimed. “I’ll always forgive you.” She buried her face in soft brown fur and just breathed, content to rest against her love even though she was in her animal form.

Ymir silently sighed in relief and leaned against Krista, just as content with the physical contact.

“Oh, and Ymir?

_Yeah?_

“We really need to get rid of this curse, because I’d really love to see your smile right now.”

Ymir’s heart did a flip and she swallowed. _Wh-whatever, you cheesy wimp._

“No really.” Krista pulled out of the hug and straightened. “I think we’ve been looking in the wrong places. All the people you think that are most likely to wish harm onto you didn’t do this.” She pulled her bag off of the coffee table and rummaged around for her notes. “I’ve done a lot of research and I’ve been keeping a record of everything that’s happened.” She couldn’t find the specific notes that she wanted, and instead grabbed her essay from the previous term that she had been given back from Hanji. It had scored perfect marks, of course, but something at the bottom of the front page caught Krista’s eye before she moved on to searching other papers.

“What’s this?” she asked herself and pulled the paper out of her bag. Right at the bottom in the corner, in Hanji’s messy but strangely beautiful script, was a short sentence.

_‘Retrace your steps, lost one.’_

“Huh?” Krista tilted her head, and then tilted the paper.

 _What is it?_ Ymir asked.

“My teacher wrote a weird message on my paper.”

_What does it say?_

“It says ‘retrace your steps, lost one’. I knew Hanji was a bit crazy, but this is beyond weird.” Krista squinted at the message for a long while, Ymir simply watching her and waiting. Eventually something lit up in Krista’s mind and she suddenly dropped the paper. “That’s it!” She turned to Ymir. “What did you do before this curse started?”

Ymir tilted her head in confusion. _Uh…_

“Did you maybe go somewhere you wouldn’t normally go, or talk to someone you wouldn’t normally talk to? Right before you turned into a dog, maybe even a few days before.” Krista pressed her hands together, heart pounding in her ears. She felt like she suddenly had the answer and waiting while Ymir thought about it was agonizing.

 _Actually, yeah._ Ymir nodded her head and her ears perked. The longer she thought about it the more alarmed she became. _Goddamn! I wondered into this weird shop and broke this statue._

Krista breathed heavily through her nose. “What was the statue of?”

_A wolf._

“And the next day you turn into a dog, right?”

_And the old man at the till went all weird on me when I refused to pay for the stupid wolf statue. Then he said something about angry spirits, but I stopped listening._

As she recalled that event, Ymir felt herself sink in embarrassment. She could completely see where she ended up getting herself cursed, and Krista simply face-palmed when she realized it too.

“Ymir, you’ve done this to yourself.”

Ymir huffed. _Yeah well, it wasn’t my fault. Damn statue came out of nowhere._

“How big was it though?”

_Small. Like an ornament or something. Probably cheap too._

Krista nodded. “Can you remember where this shop is?” Ymir nodded. “Great! We can go there on Tuesday and ask the guy if he knows about this curse.”

Ymir’s ears twitched. _Why only on Tuesday?_

“Oh, I’ve got Tuesday off, and the shop will probably be closed on Monday when I get back from class.” Krista ran her hand through Ymir’s hair, her chest feeling oddly light with the knowledge that this might be it and they might actually get down to this whole curse thing.

“Now, are you hungry?”

Ymir chuckled mentally. _When am I not?_

Krista giggled but frowned in disappointment. “I could really use a kiss right now.” She pouted, not happy with the current situation.

Ymir sat up and leaned her face closer to Krista’s. _Well if you insist,_ she said playfully and stuck her long tongue out. Krista immediately shot up from the couch and backed up.

“No Ymir, that’s gross!”

 _What? It’s still my tongue. Though longer. What, does my dog tongue turn you off?_ She advanced towards Krista, tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth.

“Don’t you dare…” Krista warned, seeing where Ymir was going with this.

 _I’m smaller than you right now, but faster._ Ymir reminded. _So you better start running._

Krista gulped, turned around and headed straight for her bedroom. Behind her Ymir barked in laughter and chased after.

Before either of them managed to get to breakfast, Krista had very wet cheeks and Ymir suffered an aching skull.


	24. Chapter 24

On the early, dark Sunday morning rain fell heavily outside of Krista’s bedroom window, sending the soothing sound of rain through the warm bedroom. Under the covers on the bed, tangled together and listening to the rain, Krista rested on top of Ymir’s chest.

She alternated between listening to the rain and listening to Ymir’s steady heartbeat. Both were soothing, but the latter more so. And her cheek was so warm from being pressed against Ymir’s skin. At least the brunette hadn’t had a fever for a while, though she was still warmer than usual.

Ymir breathed softly, half asleep but still conscious. She didn’t want to fall asleep because she had finally turned back into a human an hour ago, and after making love again, they were both cuddling together on the bed. It was warm and wonderful, enough to make her sleepy, but she made sure not to fall asleep. Every second that she was able to spend as a human now mattered.

Krista wasn’t asleep either and felt more than awake – though very calm and content. She drew lazy patterns on the skin of Ymir’s shoulder, watching as her fingers caressed freckles.

“Feels nice.” Ymir mumbled sleepily. Krista paused in her caressing but Ymir groaned. “Don’t stop.”

Krista smiled and obeyed, continuing with her earlier pattern of a winged heart.

“I thought you were asleep,” the blonde said softly.

“Nah, I’m not tired.” And then she yawned loudly, making Krista look up at her with a giggle.

“You say that but you keep yawning.”

Ymir blushed lightly and grumbled. “Shut up.”

Krista giggled and moved so that she could look properly up into Ymir’s face. “This is nice, you know, being here with you while listening to the rain.”

Ymir watched Krista’s face and the genuine smile that followed her words. Like she had been doing ever since confessing the truth about her feelings, Ymir mentally kicked herself for being so stupid. Part of her did kick back, but still.

She spun them over and looked down at Krista with a smirk. It happened too fast for Krista and all she could do was squeak in surprise and then look up at Ymir with a heavy blush. They were still naked.

“It’s not just nice.” Ymir said, still grinning. “It’s pretty fuckin’ awesome.”

“Do you really think so?”

Instead of responding with words Ymir dipped down and captured Krista’s lips for a long, slow and passionate kiss. Krista’s blush deepened and she wrapped one arm around Ymir’s neck to pull her down even more, and wrapped the other around her back, nails dug into her lower back. Ymir slowly eased herself down and pressed her body against Krista’s, the blonde’s legs to either side of her body, one leg hitched up.

Softly Krista whimpered and Ymir growled. If Ymir had been tired before, she surely wasn’t anymore.

They continued to kiss, either intensely or softly, hungrily or gently. Eventually, though, Ymir’s instincts took over and she broke the kiss to trail her lips along Krista’s jaw and down to her throat. As she pressed hot kisses there she let a hand wonder and slowly caressed a path along Krista’s chest, brushing the sides of her breasts, and down her stomach.

“Ymir,” Krista moaned and tightened her arms around the brunette. In response Ymir moved back up and locked eyes with Krista.

“I love you,” she husked.

Krista felt her heart flutter and relaxed her tense muscles. She gently cupped Ymir’s face in her hands and smiled brightly. “I’ve wanted to hear that for such a long time.” She pulled Ymir’s face down and brushed their noses together.

Ymir blushed and cleared her throat. “Well, I’m telling you now.”

“You are.” Krista kissed the tip of Ymir’s freckled nose and then relaxed back onto the mattress. “You know,” she added. “If it wasn’t for Reiner…”

At the mention of his name Ymir felt a sudden anger rush up and consume her. She didn’t even listen to the rest of Krista’s sentence as the anger just boiled in her chest. Ymir bowed her head, shut her eyes tight and clenched her teeth together, bared, as she growled deeply in her chest.

“Ymir? What’s wrong?” Krista touched Ymir’s face and the brunette looked up at her and glared hotly.

“Don’t say that name.” Ymir growled. “I don’t want you to say that idiot’s name.” Her teeth were bared between curled lips, her canine fangs glinting in the light from the bedside lamps.

Krista didn’t say anything for a long while and simply stared into Ymir’s fiery eyes. Her own anger started to build in her chest and before it could explode she simply pushed Ymir off of her and turned onto her side so that her back was facing the brunette.

“What? Are you mad at me now?” Ymir exclaimed angrily.

“Of course I am!” Krista snapped. She turned around and sat up, facing Ymir who was lying on her side, her hands balled into fists and pressed into the mattress.

“Why the hell are you mad at me?” Ymir responded.

“Ymir, I will not tolerate the way you treat Reiner.” Ymir flinched at the name. “He was my best friend, still is!”

“But he was an ass to you!” Ymir argued, not understanding Krista’s feelings at all. A deep, primal instinct in her gut told her to hate Reiner to the core. She didn’t care why, she just obeyed.

“Because he was hurt! I love you Ymir but you can’t go around telling me who to associate with and then treat people I love that you don’t like terribly. This hurts me!”

Ymir flopped onto her back and grunted in anger. “It’s not… that’s not…” She covered her face with her hands and groaned.

“It’s not what, Ymir? You’ve taken so long to be honest with me and now you’re being a jerk again. Reiner didn’t do anything to you. Even if he has feelings for me, it’s you I love. Not him.”

Ymir glared at the ceiling, desiring to curse and insult the blonde idiot her Krista liked so much. She really couldn’t understand where these feelings were coming from, but they were there and they were intense.

“Look,” Ymir sat up and tousled her hair, brushing her fringe out of her eyes. “I don’t have this thing about controlling who you like. I don’t give a crap who you associate with because that’s your business.” She released a long breath and looked off to the side.

“Then why do you hate Reiner so strongly? You don’t even know him.”

“I don’t know!” Ymir snapped. “I fucking hate him and I don’t know why. Something just keeps screaming in my head to hate him and keep him away from you. I can’t stand the thought of him even looking at you. It makes me boil inside.”

Krista sighed softly and crawled over to Ymir. She rubbed a soothing hand along her arm and leaned to the side to look at her face. Reluctantly Ymir turned her head to meet Krista’s eyes.

“So you really don’t have a reason other than it’s a reaction because of me?” Krista asked.

Ymir nodded. “I want to protect you from that idiot and his perverted ideas. He doesn’t even know you. Not like I do. He can’t possibly care about you for real.”

“But is that really a reason to hate him? I can understand dislike, but hatred is a lot more intense.”

Ymir shrugged. “I don’t know. Just… when I walked out of your room and saw him there next to you, something in my gut just set on fire and I wanted to rip his throat out.”

Krista scooted closer and wrapped her arms around Ymir’s waist, resting her head on her shoulder. “Ymir, it sounds like this is probably because of the curse.”

Ymir glanced to the side at Krista. “What makes you think that?”

“If it’s something you just feel with no reason, then how can it be something you are genuinely feeling? I think it’s the curse.”

Ymir shrugged. “Curse or not, I’ll always hate him. You can still be friends with him or whatever, but I don’t like it and I’ll always let you know that I don’t.”

Krista sighed. “It’s not fair to him if I just stopped seeing him because of you, but it’s not fair to you to keep seeing him with how you feel.”

“So who will you choose? Him or me?” Ymir kept an empty expression but she anxiously waited for the answer. Secretly she feared that Krista would choose Reiner.

“I can’t choose, Ymir. Let’s just figure out how to get rid of your curse and then we’ll see if you still feel that way about him after. Okay?”

Ymir wrapped her arms around Krista, pulled her against her chest and then fell back. When they landed she tangled her legs with Krista’s much shorter ones and found her hand to intertwine their fingers. “Sure, sounds like a plan,” she responded.

“You don’t sound all that excited.” Krista commented.

Ymir snorted. “Would you like me to dance around or something?”

Krista got onto her hands and knees and shifted until their faces were even. She then lightly bumped their foreheads together. “Stop being so difficult.”

“Stop being so small.”

Krista moved back and puffed her cheeks up. “I can’t! I’m just small.”

Ymir grinned. “And I’m just difficult.”

Krista narrowed her eyes. “Why, you…” Faster than Ymir anticipated Krista shot her hands out and started tickling Ymir right on the side of her ribs, where she was most extremely sensitive.

Ymir gasped and then panicked. “Krista, no! You know I’m too sensitive there!” Ymir attempted to flip Krista on her back or shake the blonde off of her, but Krista held on tight and continued her assault.

“You’ll regret showing your weakness to me!” Krista yelled with a laugh and continued to tickle Ymir who was now laughing in agony.

“Krista, no! Stop it!” Ymir twitched and laughed, feeling amused and irritated at the same time. She couldn’t control her laughter though, because she really was just too damn sensitive. But eventually she ran out of energy and just collapsed on top of Krista who had thankfully decided to stop tickling.

Panting heavily and aching, Ymir groaned. “You… little… shit.” she managed to grumble into Krista’s ear.

In response Krista gave her cheek a kiss and then she grinned triumphantly. “Size doesn’t always matter. I’ll always get you with that when you give me a hard time.”

“Heh… won’t keep me from… being an ass.”

Krista giggled and hugged Ymir tighter to her body. “I don’t really mind Ymir. I love you anyway.”


	25. Chapter 25

Ymir impatiently tapped her foot and glanced at the digital clock hanging on the wall. She glared at it and then returned to tapping her booted foot, arms folded across her chest. The brunette was also leaning against the doorframe of the front door, waiting for the blonde who was taking damn forever to get ready.

Sunday had passed by quickly, as well as Monday. Though the previous day had proved torture for Ymir as she wondered around Krista’s house alone, waiting for her lover to return. Since Sunday morning, with their argument and make-up shortly after, Ymir had felt increasingly frustrated with her dog body.

But by some freak miracle she had woken as a human Tuesday morning. It was the most amazing feeling to wake in the morning with Krista draped across her chest, both of them as naked as the day they were born. To be able to watch Krista’s sleeping face through human eyes and then reach out and touch a finger to her warm, pink cheek. It was wonderful, though Ymir would never admit to Krista that she did that whenever she could.

Ymir glanced at the clock again. It was already 8 a.m. Where the hell was Krista?

“Oi, are you ready yet?!” Ymir yelled out, completely agitated already. She was nervous and anxious to get to that damn shop and hopefully figure this curse out. Maybe if it was that old asshole that had cursed her then she could pay for the statue or kiss his feet or something. She was willing to do almost anything to return to normal.

“I’m ready!” Krista yelled from down the passage and hurried to Ymir’s side. It was her off day so she had been hoping to sleep in a little, but Ymir had woken her too early and she still felt exhausted. Krista had kind of fallen asleep again, but Ymir didn’t need to know that. She was probably in a bad enough mood already. “Ymir,” Krista said as she released a breath and tugged at the taller woman’s shirt sleeve, “are you sure this is a good idea?”

Ymir shrugged. “I don’t know and I don’t really care.”

“But Ymir, you could change at any moment in public. I wouldn’t know how to explain that.”

Ymir sighed. “Look, I already told you that I’m going with whether you like it or not. I want to ask this asshole myself if he did this to me. As long as we park close and don’t walk around then we’ll be okay.” She reached out and ruffled Krista’s shirt. “What took you so long anyway?”

Krista captured the hand in hers and intertwined their fingers, yawned loudly and then pulled Ymir out of the door. She didn’t reply until the door was locked and she was towing Ymir to the car. “Couldn’t decide what to wear.” she lied, yawning again.

Ymir raised an eyebrow. “You know you’re a terrible liar.”

Krista paused for a moment and then hesitantly glanced up at Ymir. “Are you mad?”

“Mad? Of course not. But seriously, why did you take so long? I waited an hour for you.”

The blonde climbed into the car, Ymir jumping into the passenger seat, and started the car. “I fell asleep again…” Krista finally admitted.

“Haven’t you been getting any sleep?”

This time Krista tilted her head and gave Ymir a raised eyebrow. “I haven’t because someone keeps working me into exhaustion at midnight.” She navigated the car out of the driveway and started in the direction towards the shop Ymir had told her about. Krista had never been there before, but it sounded interesting. She hoped the guy Ymir suspected wasn’t difficult or scary. She didn’t need that so early in the morning.

“Seemed to me that you liked it.” Ymir responded with a smirk. “I mean, I lost count of how many times you screamed my name.”

“Shut up.” Krista’s face lit up in embarrassment and Ymir’s boisterous laugh didn’t help. Her sudden warm chest and racing heart didn’t help either. “Ymir, what will we do if this guy didn’t do it?” Krista asked.

Ymir stopped laughing and her grin slowly slipped into a frown. She slumped against the car door, rested her elbow on her lifted knee, pressed her mouth to her palm and stared intensely out of the window. “I don’t know,” she mumbled against her skin. “We’ll see what happens when we get there.”

Krista took her eyes off of the road for a moment to glance at Ymir. The brunette looked worried, Krista could see that. The chance of this guy being the person behind the curse was as good as it was with Ymir’s exes. Not all that great. But they had to try.

For a long time Krista had accepted Ymir as she was and decided that if they couldn’t get her back to normal that wouldn’t change anything. Eventually Ymir would get used to living like that, and at least she would have Krista there to help her. Besides, Ymir had no friends or family that she missed.

While Ymir watched the trees passing by she sighed softly to herself and thought over what had happened that day she stumbled upon the shop. It wasn’t a place she would normally visit, but on that morning she had been bored and the shop had just been there. To be honest, she was curious.

_Dream catchers, some with stitched pictures of wolves, owls or beautiful native women hung in the window. When Ymir had entered the shop a strong wave of incense and the smell of wood invaded her senses. Like the outside the inside was either painted in brown or made of wood. The place wasn’t all that big, with only two shelves in the centre of the room, leaving hardly any space to move – especially for someone as tall as Ymir._

_A weird sensation had tightened her gut, but she ignored it and trudged further inside. It was dark but she could still see clearly, and to the right at the end of the shop was the counter and behind it sat an old man with wrinkled brown skin, greying black hair done in a braid to the base of his neck, and then wise, piercing eyes. He said nothing when Ymir entered and simply nodded when the brunette glanced at him. Ymir nodded back in acknowledgment and allowed her curiosity to take her through the tiny shop._

_On the shelves there were various small statues of animals, totem poles and things Ymir guessed were native Indian, like the old guy watching her with a strange, eerie gaze that irritated her. She didn’t need to look at him to know that he was staring, she could feel it._

_There were also books at one section of the shelves, all about spirits and stuff. Ymir paid them no attention because she didn’t believe in that crap. It all made no sense to her. But she continued to scan her narrowed brown eyes over the small figurines. One caught her attention._

_It was of a brown wolf standing proud and tall on a hill, head tilted back as it supposedly let loose a powerful howl. It was small enough to fit in Ymir’s fist. She knew because she reached out and picked it up to study it, more curious than she should have been. Something drew her to it, and after a minute of feeling the surprisingly sturdy weight and the bumpy, stone surface, Ymir quickly returned it to the shelf. But it somehow slipped out of her hand before she could place it down and it crashed to the ground._

_The head snapped off at the neck and a chunk of the carved cliff broke too. “Fuck.” Ymir cursed as she looked down at the mess at her feet._

_“You will need to pay for that,” the old man spoke up. His voice was deep and heavy, like he had just woken from sleep, but there was a hint of sternness laced in his words._

_“For that cheap piece of shit?” Ymir exclaimed. “Hell no. It was an accident.”_

_The old man stared at her for a moment and then he raised a steady hand and pointed at something just above Ymir’s head. The brunette glanced up and noticed a small paper taped to the top of the shelf._

_It read: ‘If you break it, you buy it.’_

_“That’s too fucking small to read!” She turned back to the old guy and glared at him. “Look, sorry for breaking the thing. But I’m not paying for it.”_

_“You cannot leave without paying for what you broke.” The man stood and slowly made his way around the counter._

_Ymir narrowed her eyes but stood her ground. “I’m not paying. You can’t make me.”_

_He stopped in front of her and looked up at her face. He kept a neutral expression and there was no trace of anger or frustration in his voice, but what he decided to say next sent a strange shiver down Ymir’s spine._

_“Be careful. The spirits have an interesting way of teaching people lessons.”_

_“Is that a threat?”_

_The old man shook his head, but he suddenly reached out and grabbed a hold of Ymir’s wrist. The brunette tried to pull free, but his warm grip was way too strong._

_Ymir officially regretted venturing into the damn shop, and now she wondered if she would have to kick an old guy’s ass to get out. He didn’t seem threatening though, Ymir could see that. But he had a sudden weird surprised look on his face and his dark eyes bore into Ymir’s._

_“Not a threat, but a warning.” His voice sounded just as eerie has his eyes looked, and Ymir quickly tugged her wrist out of his grip and stumbled back when he un-expectantly released her. “A grave warning,” he added, still watching her like she was a kicked puppy._

_Why did he look so damn sympathetic all of a sudden? Wasn’t he angry that some jerk walked into his shop, broke something and then refused to pay for it? There wasn’t a trace of anger in his eyes, voice, expression or body language. This old man was damn crazy._

_Ymir didn’t say anything. She swallowed the sudden thickness from her throat and made a quick escape to the door. When she burst out and the fresh, cool air washed over her face, she took a deep breath and sighed in relief._

_As she walked away, Ymir gently rubbed at her wrist, feeling something sink in her stomach. But she ignored it, and the next day it came back to bite her in the ass._

“Ymir?... Ymir!... hey, Ymir!”

Ymir blinked when she finally heard Krista calling her name, and straightened in her seat.

“We’re here,” Krista said. She gave Ymir a reassuring smile and placed a hand on her arm. “Whatever happens in there, I’m still going to be there for you. No matter what Ymir, I’m on your side.”

Ymir just nodded, but gave Krista a quick kiss before jumping out of the car. She walked to the front of the car and met Krista there.

Together they stepped into the small shop, Krista more at ease than Ymir. The brunette kept feeling a nervous tightening in her stomach.

The place was just as Ymir had remembered it, though it probably wouldn’t have changed that much in only a few months. It was dark and warm inside with a strong smell of incense, though it was pleasant.

Krista let her eyes roam and noted that it was as exactly as Ymir had described it to her, and glanced over to the counter where the old man sat, watching them intently. He showed no surprise that Ymir was there, or any sort of recognition. He merely lightly nodded at them in greeting and then kept his face neutral.

Ymir shivered and tugged at Krista’s shirt. “Maybe this won’t help,” she commented softly.

Krista glanced up at her and shook her head. “Don’t chicken out now, Ymir.”

In response Ymir huffed and narrowed her eyes. “Chicken? Me?” She folded her arms across her chest and huffed. “I’m not a chicken.”

Krista just giggled softly and pulled Ymir along by her hand, intertwining their fingers when they stopped in front of the counter.

“Hi, my name is Krista,” the blonde introduced cheerfully, “and this is Ymir.”

The man nodded. “How may I help you?”

Krista rubbed a hand over her arm and shifted nervously. She knew that they would probably look incredibly stupid and weird if this guy really didn’t do anything or acted like he hadn’t. Hopefully this would help them somehow.

“I came here a while back,” Ymir spoke up suddenly, “and broke a worthless wolf thing. Now I turn into a damn dog every day. Did you do this to me?” She kept an indifferent look on her face, but inside she was squirming.

The man furrowed his bushy eyebrows for a moment and then his eyes widened and he lifted a hand to point at Ymir. “The rude one who refused to pay for what she broke.” he said, remembering the experience. “You say you turn into a dog?”

Ymir glared at him. “If you say it’s crazy then I swear to god. You did something to me old man, you must have!”

He leaned back in his chair and continued to keep his face neutral. “Why would I do such a thing?”

Ymir grit her teeth. “Because I wouldn’t pay for that damn figurine! You said that creepy thing about spirits and revenge! Fix me. Take this curse away.”

Krista silently watched and tightened her hand around Ymir’s in comfort. She thought she would have been the one to ask. “Look,” Krista spoke up and stopped Ymir from yelling any more. “I know it must sound really crazy, but I found Ymir when she was a dog and nearly hit her with my car. She changes back into a human from midnight to 3 a.m. We thought one of her exes might have cursed her, but we looked into it and we got nowhere. Please, if you can, help us.” Since Ymir had thoughtlessly blurted everything out Krista might as well explain it in a logical manner, despite how illogical it was.

The man leaned forward and placed his arms onto the counter. “Curse?” he questioned, suddenly laughing. It wasn’t malicious or mean, it was just amused. A vein popped in Ymir’s temple and the desire to punch the old guy’s lights out was great. “Oh no, I didn’t curse you, young lady.” He lifted his hand and pressed a finger to his chest. “You’re confused in here,” he then pressed his finger to his temple, “because of your confusion here.”

“What the hell does that mean?!”

“It means that no one has done anything to you. There is no curse. What is happing to you must be a natural occurrence.”

Ymir bristled. “So you’re saying me turning into a dog is fucking natural?”

He nodded. “Life is not as black and white as it seems. You must have spooked yourself with my warning, but I promise you I did not put any kind of curse onto you. I would not do such a thing.” He turned to Krista then, eyes wise and knowing. “You, tell me, what are her symptoms?”

Krista furrowed her brows. Symptoms? Oh!

“Well, in the beginning she would get terrible fevers and nothing really worked for them. She still gets them every now and then, but not as severe. After turning she’s always incredibly hungry all of the time, mainly for meat.”

The man smiled and nodded his head. “See? This is a natural change within your body, Ymir.” He said her name with understanding and turned to smile up at her too.

Ymir merely stared at him in fury and confusion. “So basically I’m just a dog, right? Nothing has caused this and I’m just turning into a dog because that’s normal!”

He shook his head. “No, you did cause this. Most people like you are not aware of their heritage and live a long life never once experiencing the change. It takes a sudden awareness to trigger the change to happen.”

“People like me? What, is there a whole pet shop full of people who can turn into dogs?”

The man eyed Ymir with narrowed eyes and then pulled a book out of the shelf behind him. He dropped it down onto the table and met her gaze. “Have you ever heard of cynanthropy?”

Krista gasped. “Weredogs. When I did research for my project and to help you, Ymir, I found a lot of information on cynanthropy which is like lycanthropy, which are werewolves, except cynans are weredogs, basically.”

Ymir looked between both of them with a look as if to say they were both stupid and crazy. “That shit isn’t real. I’m not some damn animal shape shifter. Someone cursed me, damnit!”

“I can show you others of your kind. I know a few, if you would like I could ask one of them to meet you and to show you how to control your transformation.”

Ymir laughed loudly and then shook her head. “No, I’ve heard enough of this shit. I’m going to the car. When you’re done talking fantasy stories with this old bastard, take me home.” she said to Krista and then stormed out of the shop.

Krista sighed softly and watched her go, but didn’t follow and turned back to the man. “I’m sorry, but I think it is a bit difficult to believe.”

“I understand.” He picked the book up that had the history of all cynans in – now unneeded – and placed it back where it had originally been. “Most people don’t believe it, anyway, which causes the gene to lay dormant.”

Krista placed her fingers to her chin. “When I think about it, Ymir being a cynan would really make more sense than it being a curse.”

“Does she have times when her transformation does not go according to schedule?” he asked.

“Yes!” Krista exclaimed. “Sometimes when she gets really emotionally charged she’ll just change, especially now. Lately it’s gotten worse. Is there really a way for her to control when she transforms?”

“Yes, and how deeply she transforms too.”

“What do you mean?”

“She is a shape shifter, which means she can shift however she wishes. Let me ask you this. Has she ever been partially transformed? Like maybe her eyes changed or her teeth, or hair grew where it shouldn’t?”

Krista’s eyes widened, remembering Ymir’s strange eyes and her canine teeth that she had used to bite her shoulder. “Yeah… that’s happened a few times.”

The man nodded to himself, giving Krista a strange look but not commenting. It looked like he wanted to say something, but instead didn’t.

“I should probably go.” Krista said, glancing back at the door. Ymir would be upset with her for staying as long as she did. Though she had to admit, she really believed this man. Nothing else really made sense, and she had considered this in the beginning but had decided that it was too crazy to possibly be real. Now, of course, she would believe anything.

“Before you go,” the man grabbed Krista by the shoulder and then suddenly pulled her shirt down, exposing her shoulder.

“Hey!” Krista exclaimed in panic.

“This bite,” he said, looking at the fresh bite on Krista’s shoulder. She blushed brightly and struggled out of his grasp. “If you wish, you can come again and I can explain it to you.”

Krista backed away from him, her shirt back in place. She swallowed and nodded, embarrassed and guessing that he knew exactly how she had gotten that bite.

“Thank you for your help!” Krista said to him before she exited the shop and made her way to the car, not giving an answer to his offer but taking note of it.

He shook his head, smiling softly. “Never thought I would ever see that again.” he said softly and returned to his chair. “I guess miracles can happen a second time.”


	26. Chapter 26

When they arrived home Ymir had been silent, and not too long after going inside she unexpectantly turned. Instead of raging about it like she recently had Ymir simply curled into a ball on the couch and remained quiet, even ignoring Krista.

Krista left her alone for most of the morning and only decided to bother her sulking to ask her what she wanted to have for lunch. When she was met with silence Krista frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

“You know, for not believing that man you sure are sulking a lot.” Ymir’s ear twitched but she didn’t respond otherwise. “Come on Ymir, stop ignoring me. I believe what the old man said, it makes a lot of sense. Are you really mad at me just because I was trying to find more information to help you?”

 _To help me?_ Ymir looked up at glared at Krista. _There is no fucking way I’m actually part dog. That shit doesn’t happen in real life._

Krista rolled her eyes. “Have you been experiencing the past few months, Ymir? You turn into a dog. I’m sure we both thought that wasn’t possible either. Why is cynanthropy so farfetched then?”

 _Because it’s impossible!_ Ymir growled back.

Krista threw her hands up in the air, exasperated. “Okay, fine. Be a jerk. Don’t expect to sleep in my bed tonight then.” She left the lounge in anger, not seeing Ymir’s stubborn but slightly guilty eyes following her.

Ymir curled into a ball again and buried her face into her fur. She growled softly, upset with herself and with Krista. How could she possibly believe that Ymir was really a weredog? A curse made a lot more sense. Sure, a part of Ymir did agree with Krista but she was desperately trying to strangle that part to death. There was no fucking way she was just a dog person. That was so weird.

She felt helpless now on top of being frustrated and upset. If the ex-girlfriend investigation never shed any light on her predicament then how the hell would she ever return to normal? Would she really have to spend the rest of her life as a dog 80% of the time? How could Krista even handle something like that and would she just be okay with having to take care of her dog girlfriend?

Ymir huffed.

_Of course she will. She’s Krista. Too damn good for anyone._

Ymir sighed, now feeling guilty. Krista was just trying to help her and she was being a jerk all over again. The husky jumped off of the couch and slowly pattered into the kitchen where Krista angrily shoved cupboards open and closed and tossed a sandwich together for herself.

 _Krista,_ Ymir started, ears folded back against her head in defeat. _I’m sorry._

Krista paused, originally determined to ignore Ymir like the brunette had done to her, but turned around and softened her expression. She crouched down in front of Ymir and pulled the husky in for a hug.

“I understand that it’s hard to wrap your head around, but can you at least try?”

Ymir internally sighed, definitely not considering it but nodded to please Krista. _Sure_ , she lied.

Krista frowned slightly, immediately picking up on the dishonesty, but hid her knowledge of it and instead stood back up. “So, are you hungry?”

XxX

For the rest of the week neither of them brought the weredog subject up again, which Ymir was grateful for. She was slowly getting depressed about the situation, and she kept getting a nagging voice in her head that screamed at her that Krista was right. She always screamed back, telling the voice to shut the hell up because it didn’t know anything.

Krista, however, was secretly doing a ton of research. Since Ymir was being stubborn about considering it, Krista would give her physical proof. The blonde also wanted proof for herself because there was still a small amount of doubt in her mind.

By Wednesday Krista finally decided to visit that shop again to talk to the old man. Since he had offered she would take him up on it. She also had a plan that she was sure would work perfectly. It was after her last class for the day and Krista drove quickly to town, hoping the shop would still be open so late in the afternoon. It was the only time she could really sneak out without Ymir noticing and questioning about it. Krista didn’t want to have to lie, since she was terrible at it anyway. Hopefully it wouldn’t take long and Ymir wouldn’t become suspicious if she arrived home later than usual.

Krista wouldn’t have to be secretive if Ymir wasn’t so damn stubborn. But Krista was determined to help her, no matter what. Even if she would never admit it, Krista knew that she had Ymir wrapped around her finger. The easiest way to get Ymir to behave was to threaten with no intimate contact. Ymir hated being denied her physical comforts.

By now Krista had parked in front of the shop and sighed in relief when it was still open. When she stepped inside the air hung heavy with the scent of lavender, and it calmed Krista’s nerves somewhat. The old man was sitting in what Krista guessed was his usual seat. Did the shop ever get any customers? It really didn’t look like it.

“I was expecting you to return.” he said while giving Krista a knowing gaze.

Krista smiled and nodded, stopping in front of him. “You said you would explain about the bite… and I’ve done research on it, on the internet, but I couldn’t find anything short of werewolf type bites where it turns the victim into one too.”

The man laughed. “Oh no, it’s nothing like that.”

Krista nodded, guessing as much already. She had a certain theory but didn’t voice it. She would see what he had to say. “What is your name, by the way?”

“Adrian,” he responded with a smile and then stood. “Let’s head to the back room for privacy. Would you like tea?”

Krista hesitated. Would the conversation be that long? Well, she was really curious now. This Adrian guy seemed like he really knew a lot where Krista knew nothing. She needed to talk to him about this.

“Yes please!” she responded and followed him through a door she had never noticed before. The room was much bigger than the actual shop and looked more like a combination of a kitchen and a lounge. Right when she walked through the door she noticed the counters and such in the corner directly to her left. There was a couch off to the other corner, but Adrian waved his hand towards the kitchen table and Krista took a seat by it.

“Sugar and milk?”

“Yes, thank you.” Krista responded with a polite smile and watched him prepare a mug and switch the kettle on. There wasn’t a second mug, so he was only making it for Krista. She felt slightly bothered by hassling him.

“So you wish to know what the bite means.” He took a seat across from her, keeping an ear on the kettle.

Krista nodded. “I’m sure you know h-how I got it…” She blushed brightly and looked away.

Adrian laughed. “I do. I’m guessing your heart is already telling you the significance of that bite.” Krista didn’t respond but looked back to him and nodded faintly. “I assume you and the rude one are romantically involved,” he began and Krista blushed even more while nodding, “since you were holding hands. But more importantly, because of that bite.”

Krista paused. “So that bite does have something to do with sex.” And then she covered her mouth with a hand and felt her ears turn red too.

“Of course that is included, but not exclusive to it. Most of her kind choose to Bind during the act of love, since it is most suitable in that kind of situation.” He stood up after hearing the kettle click off and busied with pouring the water into the cup, and then milk.

“Bind?” Krista enquired. She was still embarrassed, but burning with curiosity now that her theory had been proven correct.

“Do you believe in soulmates, Krista?” he asked and placed the cup down on the table in front of her.

Krista thanked him for it and wrapped her hands around the hot mug. The steam wafted up and the wonderful scent filled her nose. “I guess. I always figured it was more of a fairytale, considering how life is and the chances of meeting your supposed one person in a pool of billions.”

“Exactly,” he responded, eyes shining. “Your lover’s people are a very connected kind of species, though unfortunately their numbers are nearly down to nothing. In the past they were hunted down and went into hiding and because of that, without the belief in their heritage, most of them have lost the essence of who they are and don’t even know it.”

“So, all these people like Ymir, who are children of Cynanthropes, they don’t ever realize what they are simply because they have no awareness of it?”

Adrian nodded. “The mind is a very complex thing.”

“Why is this bite so important though?”

“Ymir’s kind enjoys deep, intimate connection. In the past, they would be deeply connected with each other of the same kind, normally packs or families. They did not require a bite, of course, because the bite is ritualistic, revered. It almost always fails to work.”

Krista took a distracted sip of the tea, eyes wide as she concentrated hard. She did not ask any more questions and instead trusted Adrian to continue with his explanation.

“The bite goes beyond awareness. It is the Binding of two souls meant to be together. I have only ever heard of one successful bite when I was a boy, and I never thought I would live to ever see it again.”

Krista nearly choked on the tea she had just been swallowing. “Wait…” She placed the cup down and stared with wide eyes. “Are you saying that Ymir and I are soulmates?”

“Physically bound to each other and connected by soul. Let me ask you something,” he scooted closer and rested his arms on the table, his face flush with excitement, “can you hear her thoughts?”

Krista sputtered.

“This is amazing. An actual successful bite.”

“I-I thought that was only because she turned into a dog… or something…”

“Krista, we all have our own energy, but now you and her share the same. She can hear your thoughts too if she becomes aware of it.”

Krista clasped her hands together, heart pounding and face flushed. “Y-Ymir… and I… we… we…”

“The moment she bit you, you became hers as much as she became yours. Your hearts will beat in sync, you will be sensitive to the others emotional needs or turmoil. It might by trying over the years, but you will come to treasure the connection.”

“What if we don’t stay together? What if we decide to separate?”

Adrian shook his head. “Once you are Bound there is no turning back. It is so cemented that you will feel physical pain if you are apart for too long. Normally in the center of your chest.” Adrian tapped his chest as an example.

“I think,” he decided to add, “what really set her change onto its course was meeting you. By meeting her mate her body reacted violently. The fevers, the appetite and probably the intense emotion turmoil too. Her body would physically need yours. I’m probably right when I say that her physical condition got better right after you connected intimately and she bit you.”

Krista suddenly realized that he was right. “Yeah… now she hardly gets those fevers, though her skin is always hot.”

Adrian smiled. “She was aching for you. How long did it take for her to eventually Bind herself to you?”

Krista thought about it for a moment. “Well, from when we first met it must have been a few months. We only recently were honest with our feelings.”

This time Adrian sputtered, eyes wide with horror. “Months?! How did she even manage to resist her instincts?” He ran a hand over his face. “She must have suffered excruciating pain whenever you were near to her.”

Krista’s heart dropped. She knew it had been bad… but that bad? Why had Ymir hidden the severity from her? She made a firm note to confront Ymir about that in the future.

“We both had our issues so it was difficult to come to terms with our feelings.”

“She must be one damn stubborn woman, to be able to resist her mate for that long. It is the ultimate worse torture.”

Another thought suddenly hit Krista. “She’s a weredog, so does that mean I am technically her territory or property?” she asked.

Adrian nodded immediately. “Oh yes. She runs more widely on instinct than anything so if anything dared to threaten what is hers she would react violently, like any of her kind would. At least it isn’t as intense as with the lycans. They lose their minds in rage.”

A huge relief washed over Krista and she slumped back against the seat. So that explained it! Ymir’s horrible attitude towards Reiner! She instantly hated him because she felt that he was a threat and needed to be chased away. Whether Krista saw him or not, Ymir would always feel like that and her instincts would take over.

“What caused Ymir to start changing, though? It happened before I met her.”

Adrian waved his hand and grinned guiltily. “I think my comment to her must have spooked her really badly, because that triggered the change and she let it happen thinking I had cursed her. I could be wrong, but that makes the most sense.”

“Oooh, yeah that does. You have literally almost solved the entire problem.”

“Almost?”

Krista sighed heavily. “Ymir refuses to believe it so she won’t talk about it or even consider it. I don’t know how to help her. If I don’t help her to control her transformation then she’ll unconsciously stay in that form until something triggers her.”

“There is a way that is full proof.” Adrian said. “You have become her world whether she admits it or not. It’s now impossible to deny it. You can use that to your benefit. Get her into a certain mood and then use her own mind against her. She’ll open herself to you without even realizing it.”

“So basically I trick her into making herself change?”

“Bingo!”

“Will that really work?”

“She changes according to her will. If you give her something to will towards, of course it will. Maybe then she will believe that this isn’t a curse.”

Krista suddenly stood and rounded the table to give Adrian a tight hug. “Thank you, really. You didn’t need to help us but you did. I am really grateful.”

He waved it off. “I am a specialist in this, so it is my job. I hope that you find a way to tame your mate.”

Krista blushed. “Oh great, now I’ll need to convince her of that too! And get used to the ‘mate’ thing…” she muttered the last part softly to herself.

“No, she already knows. I’m sure of it. You just need to get her to admit it.”

Krista nodded. “Great. I should really head back now though. Thank you again. The tea was really nice by the way.”

She headed towards the door, Adrian following behind.

He laughed. “My mother taught me how to make her favorite tea.”

Krista waved to him one last time and flashed a big smile before she stepped out of the warm shop and into the cool air. After hopping into the car she remained still for a long time, thinking.

_So Ymir is literally my soulmate. No matter what I am stuck with her forever. I… I really like that. Thinking about it is making my chest all warm… what is this feeling? I feel like crying and laughing at the same time. I wonder if Ymir is feeling it too? I should get home! I really want to see her._

Krista quickly started the car and headed home. She started to sweat from the sudden heat covering her body. Adrian was right, awareness really was important. Now that she knew how she was connected to the brunette, just the thought of her made her chest tighten and burn in the best way. The desire to be close to Ymir was consuming.   

When she arrived home and parked in the driveway, Krista’s phone suddenly rang. At first the thought it was Ymir, since she could have turned back into a human if she had worried enough, but it wasn’t.

It was Reiner.

Krista was still upset about his comments from when he had visited, but reminded herself of the strange situation and of the emotions that had been all over the place. She only hoped he wasn’t calling with the same ill feelings.

“Hello?” Krista answered.

“Oh thank goodness, you answered. I was sure you would ignore my call.” Reiner sounded intensely relieved on his end. Krista’s chest tightened, but painfully, and it wasn’t doing it for him but because of him. Did she spiritually see him as a threat, too? That would surely amuse and please Ymir.

“Reiner, you’re still my best friend. I won’t ignore you.”

Reiner’s guilt only worsened. “Listen, I know you have other things to do so I’ll make this quick. Do you think you could have coffee with me on Saturday? I managed to get a few hours away.”

Krista swallowed. “Reiner, you know Ymir won’t–”

“Nothing suspicious. I just need to talk to you, honestly. Please?”

An incredible idea dawned on Krista before she rejected his plea. It was almost as if this was meant to happen, and now the plan was forming. With a smile Krista responded.

“Of course! What time?”

“Uh… I’ll pick you up at 3?”

“I think I’ll drive there myself, but thank you. Where would you like to meet?”

Reiner replied with the café he had chosen and then he and Krista bid their farewell and the call ended. Krista’s grin did not fade one bit as she exited the car and made her way inside. To her absolute delight Ymir was sitting on the couch, in human form.

Before Ymir could comment on how damn late she was, Krista surprised her by sitting down on her lap and capturing her lips for a deeply passionate kiss.

Ymir only wore a t-shirt and boxers, since there was no use in wearing anything else if she would just turn at any time. The clothes frustrated Krista though, so she pulled back and ripped Ymir’s shirt off.

“Krista, what the hell has gotten into–” The brunette was once more cut off when Krista glued their lips together again. Deciding that she certainly didn’t mind, Ymir just enjoyed the skin to skin contact and the delicious kiss. Krista had pulled her own shirt off before initiating another kiss, and so their bodies were pressed firmly together and Krista had her hands pressed against Ymir’s back.

Unable to control it, Ymir released an inhuman growl, followed by a whine when Krista pulled back to blink at her.

“What? Why did you stop?” Ymir just blinked right back, desperate and disappointed.

Krista’s face flushed and she smiled so brightly that Ymir’s chest instantly lit on fire. “I love you, Ymir.” she said softly and leaned close to gently brush their lips together, “ _my_ Ymir.”

Ymir loved how possessive that sounded, and when Krista kissed her again, she shivered.


	27. Chapter 27

Ymir stared intently at Krista’s sleeping face. She was propped up on her elbow, on her side, with her body molded to Krista from behind and her head resting in her palm. Her other arm was wrapped around Krista’s chest, her hand tightly clasped with both of Krista’s and held against the blonde’s chest. Apparently sometime while they had been asleep Krista had grabbed her hand and held on to it like her life depended on it. Ymir didn’t mind, she could feel the steady heartbeat against her skin, anyway. Or her own heartbeat.

It was confusing, but… Ymir felt her heart was beating in her own chest, and then it suddenly felt like it was beating in Krista’s. For the past hour she had just been observing her small lover, thinking about everything they had gone through in the past months and then everything that had happened in the past week.

Ymir rested back down and tucked Krista’s head under her chin. She inhaled Krista’s scent, one that she knew better than any and one she knew that she could recognize anywhere, and slipped her other arm underneath Krista’s head, curling around her so that she could gently caress Krista’s cheek without having to disturb her by pulling her other hand free.

It felt nice, having her hand held like that, so she didn’t want to pull it away anyway.

She was still trying to figure out what that feeling was. That odd sensation that she had two heartbeats, but one. When she closed her eyes and gently pressed her fingers to Krista’s pulse point at her neck, she compared the steady rhythm to her own. She then nervously swallowed.

Their hearts were beating in complete sync almost as if they were mimicking each other.

Ymir pressed her lips to Krista’s blonde hair and sighed. She knew deep down that Krista was right, but a large part of her was too scared to listen to the possibility and accept it. If she did, that would make her even more of a freak. On top of already being emotionally stupid and riddled with issues, she would be half animal. It was not a pleasant thought or feeling. Another fear was that Krista would leave her if it really was true. Krista had said a long time ago that she wasn’t into bestiality, and wasn’t it exactly that with Ymir, technically? Was she really even human then? What the hell was she?

Ymir grit her teeth together, a small headache forming in her left temple at the force of her complicated thoughts. Suddenly, though, Krista shifted and turned around, releasing Ymir’s hand. When she was fully facing the brunette she placed her hand against Ymir’s chest and looked up at her with sleepy but worried eyes.

“Ymir?” she asked drowsily.

Ymir’s eyebrows drew together. “Did I wake you?”

“No, but…” Krista scooted closer and pressed her face to Ymir’s skin, her ear against her chest. In response Ymir wrapped her arm around Krista and pulled her in tighter. “I woke up because I felt your turmoil.”

Ymir’s eyes widened. “Are you sure I didn’t just touch you too firmly or something?”

Krista pushed back slightly and looked back up into Ymir’s eyes. “I can feel what you feel, Ymir. I woke up because I was feeling scared and anguished and I don’t know how but I just knew that it was you. What’s wrong?” She lifted her arm and brushed a strand of brown hair out of Ymir’s eyes, tucking it behind her ear.

“Nothing.” Ymir turned onto her back and pulled Krista onto her chest, but she kept her eyes looking up and avoided meeting Krista’s gaze. “Go back to sleep, you still have a few hours before class.”

Krista wanted to push the subject but something told her to wait, so she sighed softly and snuggled more comfortably against Ymir’s body. With her freckled lover’s warm shoulder as a pillow and those arms wrapped so safely around her, Krista closed her eyes and fell into a light sleep with the smell of her Ymir filling her senses.

XxX

The days until Saturday had passed rather uneventfully. Krista only returned to Adrian once to ask for one more favour. It was part of her back up plan which had been her original plan before the second one, after Reiner’s call, had taken the spotlight. Of course Adrian had enthusiastically agreed and Ymir never knew a thing about it.

What she also didn’t know about was Reiner’s call or their meeting that was fast approaching. Krista had smartly decided to hold off on telling her, for a specific reason.

She was now taking a quick shower, hurrying because she only had 10 minutes until she was supposed to meet Reiner. Ymir always managed to find ways to distract her or to keep her otherwise occupied, not that Krista minded. But now she had to put her plan into action and hopefully get rid of her nagging guilt. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling to hide things from Ymir, and Krista was sure that Ymir had already picked up on the fact that she was keeping a few secrets. Luckily Ymir hadn’t confronted her about them yet, so she was probably waiting for the blonde to tell her when she was ready.

After rushing out of the shower Krista hurried to her cupboard and pulled out the first presentable outfit she could find. Ymir rested on the bed in her dog form, watching with anxiety and puzzlement.

 _What are you so hurried for?_ Ymir asked hesitantly.

Krista sent a guilty smile at her. “Just hang on,” she replied, as she had since the moment she had started running around to get ready. Ymir sighed moodily and rolled onto her back. Her tail swished back and forth in her irritation, and if Krista hadn’t been so busy with her hair then she would have commented on how much Ymir acted like a cat sometimes, and then how cute it was.

The blonde really didn’t try to make herself all that dressed up. She was only rushing because she was late. Despite his behavior Reiner was still her friend and she didn’t want him to think she wasn’t going to show up. She was already a good 20 minutes late already.

“Okay!” Krista jogged out of her bedroom and down the hall towards the front door, Ymir quickly pattering along behind her. On the way she grabbed her cellphone and keys from the kitchen table and then stopped by the kitchen door. “Ymir,” she turned to the husky and looked into those familiar eyes. “Reiner called and asked to talk to me. I’m going to meet him now.”

Ymir’s hair immediately stood on end and her lips curled back. _So that’s what you hid from me._ She snarled angrily, half panicked. Why had Krista hidden it, goddamnit?

Krista felt Ymir’s sudden rush of rage and rubbed a hand over her chest. It would still take some getting used to, feeling Ymir emotions and such. She turned for the door quickly before she melted into a puddle and begged for Ymir’s forgiveness. As she approached the door Krista heard the clattering of nails on the floor behind her change into the sound of heavy footsteps. When her hand reached out for the handle, two strong arms wrapped around her chest and pulled her against a bare, warm body.

“Don’t go.” Ymir begged.

Krista shuddered slightly but gently extracted Ymir’s arms from around her. She held onto her hands though and intertwined their fingers, turned around and then looked up into Ymir’s worried face. “It’s okay, he just wants to talk. If it’s anything suspicious I will reject him immediately.” Ymir opened her mouth to argue, and Krista could feel it, so she leaned up – having to stretch quite high – and pressed their lips together to stop her. “Trust me Ymir, just trust me,” she said when she pulled back.

Ymir felt her stomach knot in anxiety, but all she could do was nod slightly and drop her hands as Krista turned and headed out of the door. She was just so scared and all of her stupid insecurities that still existed taunted her with the worry that Krista would crave Reiner’s touch in the end.

After leaving the house Krista had to fast walk to her car because she really wanted to turn back around and just hold Ymir. She hated having to do this, but it was absolutely necessary. When she climbed into her car and shut the door, she luckily didn’t hear the angered howl echoing throughout the house.

XxX

Krista arrived about half an hour late, apologizing profusely when she approached Reiner who had been patiently waiting. He didn’t stand and offer a hug like Krista had expected, and secretly she sighed in relief.

“I’m sorry.” Krista said again, now taking a seat.

“No, it’s fine, really!”

“Would you like to order something, miss?” A waiter appeared by Krista’s side, notebook and pen in hand.

“Oh, uh, yes! Can I just have a water please?”

“Of course.” The waiter nodded, deciding not to write the order down and quickly zipped off. Once he was gone Krista turned and gazed awkwardly at her broad friend.

“So…”

“Krista, before either of us say anything I just want to let you know how sorry I am for those stupid comments I made. There’s nothing wrong with you being into women. I only said that because of my bruised ego.”

Krista’s awkwardness faded and she smiled gently at him. “I forgive you. I should apologize for Ymir’s behavior too since it was partly my fault. I shouldn’t have let her treat you like that or drag me off the way she did.” Krista reached out, hand open. “Can we shake, forgive and forget?”

Reiner sighed in relief and visibly relaxed. “Thank you.” He wrapped his beefy hand around Krista’s and gave it a gentle shake. They pulled their arms back, and then a new kind of awkwardness settled in.

“So… the real reason I called you here is, because… well…” Reiner blushed deeply and nervously scratched his cheek. “I decided that I need to be honest with you, in case I have a chance with you.” He wasn’t looking at Krista but Krista was surely looking at him.

“Reiner… do you mean…?”

“Krista, I’ve had feelings for you for a long time now. I’ve always been too scared to tell you, but I’m owning up and telling you now. I have feelings for you. Is it possible that you feel anything back, and we can try being more than friends?” Now he finally turned his eyes to gauge Krista’s reaction, and felt his heart drop.

“Reiner…” Krista sighed and covered his trembling hand with her own. “I’m flattered, really, but you have always been like a brother to me. I may have only met her a few months ago, but I love Ymir with every fiber of my being.”

“But we’ve been friends for so long.” It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than Krista.

“She’s my person, Reiner, not you. I’m sorry.”

Reiner pulled his hand away from Krista’s and slumped his shoulders. He chuckled lightly and then shrugged. “Funny enough, I totally expected that. I had to try though.”

“I’m proud of you for being brave enough. I’m just sorry that you have to hurt over this.”

Reiner waved his hand. “Nah, I’ll be okay. I’ve got Bert, after all. When I stormed out of your place I went directly to him, and you know what he did?” Reiner blushed again and turned his eyes away, embarrassed.

“What did he do?”

“He immediately kicked my ass and gave me the longest lecture of my life about how I was stupidly pining after you while he devoted himself to loving me. I’ve always had a feeling that he felt that way, but I’ve always been too scared to admit it, you know? Not because of stupid reasons but… he’s my friend and I don’t want to mess things up with him.”

“If he confessed to you, then why are you here confessing to me?” Krista asked, now slightly miffed at Reiner.

“Well, Bert made me. He said I would never have closure if I didn’t, and he was right. I didn’t say that I love you, because I don’t. I don’t think it was ever anything as strong as love. I was probably only infatuated… am.” He sighed deeply, but looked a hundred times happier compared to when Krista had first arrived.

She was glad that he would at least have someone there to help him through getting over the hurt. And if he was smart enough he would tell Berthold that he loved him too – because everyone could always see the underlying love they had and the connection, despite Reiner’s insistence on going for Krista – and he would never let that man go. Finding someone to love so painfully was a rare, wonderful and torturous thing, but it was worth it in the end.

This train of thought made Krista think about Ymir and her heart immediately clenched. “Reiner, is there anything else you need to talk to me about?” she asked in a hurry. She started looking through her wallet.

“Uh, no, that’s it. And don’t worry about the bill, I’ll pay for it.”

Krista paused in her pursuit for money and glanced appreciatively at her blonde friend. “Thank you.” she said, glancing briefly at the untouched water that had arrived sometime during their conversation. “I have to go now. Thank you for being honest with me and good luck with Berthold.”

Reiner didn’t even have time to respond in words, so he simply watched her leave and offered a small wave. Once she had disappeared, he released a shaky breath but smiled softly to himself.

“See?” Berthold slipped into the seat Krista had been in just seconds ago. “How many times in our years as friends did I tell you that Krista would ever feel the same?”

The blonde sighed but nodded. “A lot, and I finally accept it now. When did you get here though? I thought you were going to meet me at Annie’s later?”

“Oh I followed you here and hid a few tables down.” Berthold smiled brightly and leaned forward. “I was too worried, I just couldn’t stay away.”

Reiner sighed and leaned forward too, blushing slightly. “Well, it’s over now. But thanks. Not just for now, but for everything.”

Berthold blushed too this time and smiled even more broadly. “I love you Reiner, I always have.”

Reiner leaned back into his chair and wrapped his arms around his torso. “I think I love you too.” he confessed and looked to Berthold to see his childhood friend smiling happily with his eyes closed. Yeah, he would definitely not let Berthold go now

XxX

Krista burst through the front door of her house, nearly falling over and face planting against the floor. She managed to catch herself on the door frame though, and hurriedly pulled herself up and shut the door.

“Ymir?” she called out, now desperate to get the last part of her plan going before she started to cry.

Ymir didn’t respond so Krista had to follow her strange intuition and found her curled up on the bed, tail covering and shielding her face. Krista sighed, relieved that Ymir had reflexively turned back into a dog. That would make this easier.

She slowed her steps as she entered the room and tried her best to calm her emotions. No doubt Ymir had already felt her rush of emotions when she rushed into the house, so she had to calm herself as much as possible for the next phase to work.

 _What did he have to say?_ Ymir mentally spoke up first, startling Krista. She really hadn’t expected her to be the first to talk.

“Oh, uh… he just confessed to me.” Krista answered as casually as she could and sat down on the bed. She started taking her shoes off as slowly as possible, not adding anything else and leaving Ymir to fume.

 _‘Just’, you say?_ Ymir responded. Krista could feel the venom in her words, but more than that, she could feel the hurt.

She could not give up yet, she had to do this! The more hurt and upset Ymir became, the better.

“You were right after all. Reiner has been intensely in love with me for a long time. I don’t know why I never figured out.” Oh god, exaggerations that made Krista squirm uncomfortably inside. Thankfully Ymir was in too much of a rage to really focus on Krista’s internal squirming.

 _And what else did he want, for your hand in marriage?_ It was a snarl, a very angry snarl.

Okay! Krista decided that Ymir was about ready enough for the worst part. She climbed onto the bed and scooted up close to Ymir, ignoring her earlier snarl and now lightly running her hand through Ymir’s fur. The brunette still hadn’t uncovered her face to look at her.

“You know, I was thinking on my way back,” Krista started, absolutely mortified at herself for what she was about to say, but she had to do it anyway. “Reiner has hands, you know, that he can touch me with.”

This time Ymir moved her tail and sat up, staring intensely into Krista’s eyes. It was a dare for her to say more, and Krista swallowed hard as she complied.

“All he has to do is reach out, extend his hand…” She backed away, still staring deeply into Ymir’s furious eyes, and stood up from the bed. She backed up all the way until her back was pressed up against the wall. “He just needs to reach out and brush his fingertips along my skin, maybe grip my chin in his hand, pull me closer with his other arm.”

Ymir’s nostrils began to flare as the mental images Krista had painted consumed her mind. Her heart was absolutely thundering and hot fire burned through her veins. _Krista, don’t you fucking dare._

Krista took a deep breath and calmed somewhat, and then she continued. “He can even lean close and whisper into my ear, his breath brushing over my skin. And if he wants, whenever he wants, he can pull me close and kiss me.”

Ymir was shaking with so much rage that her form began to blur. She jumped off of the bed, growling furiously and approaching Krista who was utterly shitting herself. She would never fear Ymir, really, because she knew the brunette would ever hurt her, but the look in Ymir’s eyes and the sound of her growl were absolutely terrifying. But Krista continued.

“He can even press his naked body to mine, whenever he wants!” This she yelled desperately.

 _SHUT THE FUCK UP._ Ymir growled, her form changing. She continued to step forward and with each slow, deliberate footstep her limbs extended, hair receded and her spine straightened. Steam bellowed off of her body as she changed slowly, properly showing the transformation of her physical form to Krista for the first time – because every other time had been too fast to follow.

By the time she reached her trembling Krista, she was back in her human form but not completely. She slapped her hands against the wall to either side of Krista’s head, startling the blonde out of her daze, and leaned down to look into her eyes with her own burning a bright red and her canine fangs extended. Before she could say anything though, Krista suddenly grabbed her face and broke out into an exalted smile.

“I did it…” she whispered softly. “I did it!” she repeated louder.

Ymir was still trembling with anger, but now she cocked her head to the side and looked at Krista with confusion. Before Ymir could misunderstand or assume or get pissed all over again, Krista pulled her in for a kiss and then wrapped her limbs around her freckled lover.

Ymir’s brows furrowed but she wrapped her arms around Krista and pressed her lips to her shoulder.

“Firstly, I’m so sorry.” Krista said first, needing to get that out of her system before she explained anything else. “I’m sorry for sneaking around behind your back and keeping the meeting with Reiner from you. I needed to, because I needed to make you incredibly upset.”

Ymir turned around and pressed her back to the wall, and then she slid down onto the floor and gripped onto Krista even tighter. “I… I nearly lost my mind.” Ymir admitted, voice small and weak. Her anger had drained and now she just trembled in fear. “You aren’t going to leave me, are you? Please don’t leave me.”

Krista immediately pulled back and grabbed Ymir’s face again. “God no!” she exclaimed. “I was exaggerating with the Reiner thing! He did confess but I rejected him, and he has Berthold now.”

Ymir studied Krista’s blue gaze for a moment before she released a long breath and then pressed her forehead against Krista’s chest. The blonde wrapped her arms around the brunette and pressed her cheek against the top of her head.

“I made you change, Ymir. I planned all week and I finally did it.” Ymir didn’t respond, she just held onto Krista and listened to the vibration of her voice and the fluttering of her heart. “I went back to Adrian, the owner of the shop, and he told me that you change according to your will. Because you believe in this curse so firmly you’ve kept yourself on a schedule. I used your emotions and desires to get you to change yourself. Do you believe me now, Ymir? You must have felt if. It’s impossible that you didn’t.”

Ymir sighed. “I know. I know it’s true. I just… how can you still love me if it is? I’m even more of a freak. What you think matters to me.”

Krista tightened her hold. “Ymir, there’s another thing I should explain to you.” She gently pushed Ymir back and then placed Ymir’s hand against her chest while she rested hers to Ymir’s. “When you bit me, you Bound yourself to me. We are connected spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and as often as possible, physically. I know that you’ve felt it, because I have too. I feel like so much of a part of you that for a second if feels like I’m in your body, breathing through your lungs. It’s now completely impossible for me to ever even want to be apart from you.” She bumped their foreheads together, still gazing into Ymir’s eyes. “I am your soulmate, and I meant it from the moment I saw you; I am always on your side, and with you I feel like I don’t have to fear anything because I can do anything.”

Ymir smiled, and then she chuckled. “It sure takes a lot to convince my stubborn ass, huh?”

Krista sighed deeply in relief and laughed too. “But I’ll never give up. I’m just sorry that I had to make you so mad.”

"That’s alright,” Ymir stood and cradled Krista against her chest. “Because you’ll make up for it.”

Krista, arms wrapped around Ymir’s neck, looked up at her with worry. “M-make up for it?”

Ymir rolled her eyes. “Don’t look so goddamn scared.” She carried Krista to the bathroom with her as she spoke. “What I meant with that is that I want you to help me learn how to control my transformation. But this time don’t include something that will make my brain explode.”

Krista sighed in relief and nodded. “Of course! I think I know the perfect way to train you.”

Ymir raised an eyebrow and set Krista down onto her feet. She reached behind the blonde to turn the shower taps on, and then she returned her gaze to that adorable face that was now innocently looking up at her.

“I have a feeling there will be lots of sexcapades.” Ymir guessed.

Krista widened her eyes in mock surprise. “What?! What made you think of that?” She watched Ymir snort and then step into the shower – she was all sweaty from that intense transforming she had done.

“I mean, it’s not like the promise of passionate, wild animal sex all day would be good enough motivation, right?”

Ymir absolutely froze before she slowly looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes at a grinning Krista. “Get the fuck in here,” she growled and pulled Krista into the shower with her.

“Ymir, my clothes!” Krista exclaimed. Her clothes were now completely drenched.

Ymir grinned. “Well if you insist.” She started pulling them off, ignoring Krista’s eye roll. Before long Krista was just as nude as her. The cynan pulled her mate tightly to her body and breathed in deeply, once more memorizing Krista’s scent. “I love you,” she murmured against her skin.

Krista closed her eyes and smiled, feeling the light pulsing in her heart that she recognized as the feelings Ymir invoked in her whenever she was feeling particularly fluffy. It was a slightly burning sensation and it was slowly spreading throughout her body, but it was pleasant. The blonde did not reply verbally, instead she tightened her arms around Ymir and buried her face against her neck.

Ymir smiled genuinely, and then she gently pressed a kiss to the spot she had bitten Krista all those days ago. The water continued to plummet down over them, but it would be a while before they released their embrace and noticed that the water had already gone cold.


	28. Chapter 28

Krista sighed in bliss and let her body sink further into the relaxing hot bath water. The added heat and softness from Ymir relaxed her even more, since Ymir was in the bath with her and she was leaning her back against the brunette’s chest. It had been a stressful day for Krista since she had forgotten to hand her assignment in and Petra had returned after her trip away from town. She had needed to go with her brother and hadn’t called Krista in her time away to provide the blonde with some space. Imagine her surprise when she came back to a grinning Krista and not the gloomy one she had left behind.

Krista hadn’t been keen on explaining it during class so she had promised Petra that she would tell her everything some other time, to which the other blonde had demanded it right away. So Krista ended up agreeing and now she would have to meet Petra for some coffee later that night. She still had a few hours left though, and since she and Ymir had been working hard with the transformation practice, Krista had decided that they needed a relaxing bath.

“Oooh this is heavenly,” Krista exclaimed with a sigh and snuggled up against Ymir.

“Sure is,” Ymir responded and tightened her arms around her lover’s small body. She had her head titled back and resting against the wall, her arms wrapped around Krista’s waist and her fingers would occasionally trail along Krista’s thigh.

They hadn’t made love that day yet since Krista had woken up late and had to hurry to her first class. When she had returned she demanded that Ymir practice her transformation and then afterwards they had an early dinner. While Ymir had managed to get Krista into a passionate kiss the blonde had then pushed her away and suggested a bath. The appeal of being naked and warm together was irresistible so Ymir hadn’t complained. But now she was determined to get what she wanted. She had waited long enough.

“You did well today, Ymir.” Krista commented. “It’s only been a week and you already almost have a grasp on transforming.”

Ymir hummed deeply in response, lazily tracing circles along Krista’s stomach now. The blonde enjoyed the tingles it left on her skin and squeezed her thighs together. She knew where Ymir was going with her touches and it was driving her crazy, but she didn’t want to act on it just yet.

“You still need to work on your anger though, it triggers you to turn.”

With this Ymir lifted her head and opened her eyes. “It doesn’t help me when you keep describing you and Reiner in sexual situations.”

Krista sighed. “It’s your biggest trigger. If you can control your transformation while that angry then I think you’ll find it a lot easier to change at will. I’ve told you already.”

Ymir grumbled. “I know. It just isn’t nice to hear, is all.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips to Krista’s shoulder. “I’m supposed to be the only one to ever touch you here.” She trailed both hands upwards and cupped Krista’s breasts, giving each a gentle squeeze and making Krista cry out and squirm. “Or here.” She kept her left hand on Krista’s breast but moved the right down to her thighs and then to her burning center. “Oh? You’re hot for me already and it hasn’t even been a minute,” Ymir then husked into her ear. The conversation up until this point had been for a different purpose that Ymir was busy enacting.

“Y-Ymir!” Krista let her head fall back against Ymir’s shoulder as the brunette teased and stroked her, gently kissing her neck as she did. When Krista started to moan and pant Ymir became displeased with their position and turned Krista around. The blonde was now facing her.

“I like to see your face.” Ymir clarified and then returned to her earlier touching. Krista wrapped her arms around Ymir’s neck and leaned in close to look deeply into her eyes. Eventually she couldn’t concentrate enough to focus and pressed her face to Ymir’s neck, eyes shut tight. “You made me wait so long.” Ymir growled softly, a wide grin on her face.

“Y-you can go a day without sex, Ymir.” Krista responded in an attempt at sternness but only managing to sound breathy.

Ymir lifted an eyebrow and then suddenly slipped a finger inside of Krista’s warmness. The blonde moaned loudly and shuddered. “No I can’t.” Ymir responded passionately. “My body burns for yours, literally.” She maintained a steady, slow rhythm and made sure to drive Krista absolutely crazy.

“W-well…” Not really knowing how to win with a comeback, Krista just lifted herself and attacked Ymir’s mouth hungrily. It was true though, Krista felt exactly the same as Ymir, though maybe not as intensely. It could also be because they were feeling each other’s desire for one another on top of already feeling their own desire. It was like lust times two.

“See? You can’t even come up with an argument.” Ymir breathed against her lips and chuckled when Krista groaned and glared at her all in the same breath.

“I c-can!” Krista responded stubbornly.

Ymir lifted an eyebrow but didn’t reply in words. She did smirk broadly and capture Krista’s lips again as she added a second finger and fastened the pace. Her tongue slipped past Krista’s quivering lips and tangled with the blonde’s eager tongue. This time Ymir moaned and growled softly as she felt Krista’s pleasure roar through her own body.

When the brunette lightly bit down on Krista’s tongue the blonde shuddered, her inner walls tightened around Ymir’s fingers and then she came with a cry. Ymir allowed her fingers to stop as the orgasm rocked through her body too. A few minutes later they both relaxed their bodies and then Ymir pulled out.

“I’m still not done with you.” Ymir warned breathlessly. She wrapped her arms around Krista’s limp body and rested her cheek against the top of the blonde’s head.

“You’ll have to wait until I get back.”

“Can’t you just reschedule?”

“I can’t go back on my promise to Petra. I’ll make it quick, I promise.” Krista managed to lift herself up with the little strength she had regained and then she kissed Ymir gently on the lips.

Ymir sighed. “When do you need to go?”

“In an hour. We already wasted more than an hour in the bath.”

“Wasted? I don’t count making sexy love a waste, Krista.”

The blonde sighed in exasperation and kissed the tip of Ymir’s nose. “You know I didn’t mean it that way.” She pushed herself up and then climbed out of the bath, sad to leave that wonderful warmth, and the hot water too. She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself. When she heard a disappointed whimper behind her she giggled and looked over her shoulder at Ymir.

“Stop ruining my eye candy!” Ymir exclaimed with fake tears. She then climbed out of the bath too but opted not to cover herself with a towel. She only quickly dried her skin and then she tossed the towel to the side and strutted out of the bathroom behind Krista.

“Is your fond of nudity a Cynan thing?” Krista asked curiously. She had grown used to Ymir’s fondness for walking around the house completely naked.

“Why don’t I call all my dog buddies and ask them?” Ymir responded sarcastically. Krista whipped her painfully with the towel.

“Don’t be mean.” she warned.

“Ouch goddamnit! You know I was only joking. Jesus. Besides, I really don’t know. I’ve just always liked and been proud of being naked.” She turned around and then pointed at her backside. “I mean, look at these sexy ass freckles.”

Krista studied Ymir’s ass with a serious expression as she dried the last of the water from her skin. When she was dry and her observation over, she turned to her cupboard and pulled a few items of clothing out. “Okay, I have to admit that you do have sexy ass freckles.” She sent Ymir a wink over her shoulder and then proceeded to dress.

Ymir just bellowed in laughter and fell over onto the floor. While she laughed until her sides hurt she unconsciously changed. Krista wondered why the laughter had suddenly stopped but decided not to worry about it as she continued to dress. Ymir decided to use her situation to her advantage and slowly crawled over to Krista on all fours, her tail wagging back and forth. When she was on Krista’s other side, where the blonde wouldn’t expect her to be, she quickly darted her tongue out and licked Krista’s ankle.

Krista dropped her shirt and screamed. She stumbled backwards and then fell over, still screaming. Ymir immediately turned and crawled on top of her – once more human, and laughed even harder than before. When Krista realized that Ymir had scared her AGAIN she puffed her cheeks up and blushed in anger.

“Ymir! I told you to stop doing that!”

“But… but…” Ymir pressed her forehead to the floor beside Krista’s head and released a few more loud laughs. When her amusement died down she lifted her head and looked down at Krista with a smirk. “Oh god your scream. I can’t get enough of it.”

Krista crossed her arms over her chest and looked to the side, now angry at Ymir.

“Oh come on love, don’t pull your face like that.” When Krista didn’t respond Ymir allowed her dog ears and tail to pop out and lifted Krista’s face with a finger to her chin. She allowed her tail to slowly move back and forth and folded her long dog ears against her head, looking very much like a wounded puppy. “Please?”

Krista covered her mouth with her hands and giggled. “Oh Ymir…” She started giggling again as Ymir wiggled her ears. “Alright, I forgive you. How can I stay mad at you when you’re so cute?”

Ymir grinned broadly, proud that she made her wonderful girlfriend laugh. She leaned down and brushed their noses together, and then even further down and caught her for a long, deep kiss.

Since she was still naked and all, Ymir was hot and heavy in no time. Krista nearly allowed herself to drown in Ymir’s touch but quickly remembered that there was somewhere she needed to be. She gave Ymir’s lips one more brush with her own and then she crawled out from underneath her freckled lover and got to her feet.

“I don’t have time right now Ymir, I really need to go.”

Ymir rolled onto her side and rested her head on her hand, propped up by her elbow. Her tail fell over her hip, covering the area between her legs and her dog ears twitched irritably.

“Why do you even need to go?”

“Petra wants to know about what happened when she was away. It will take a while to explain.” She looked over her shoulder and melted at the sight of Ymir looking so seductive but moody and adorable at the same time. “I’m sorry sweetheart. I’ll make it up to you.” She turned back around to finish with her clothing and hair and then she nodded in satisfaction at her appearance in the mirror.

Ymir stood up from the floor and reverted back to being fully in her human form, but she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. “Fine.”

“Aw.” Krista quickly kissed her pouting lips. “I’ll try to be quick. Don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone, okay?” She made her way to the front door and Ymir followed.

“I’m not your pet, but I’ll behave.”

Krista grinned naughtily and gave Ymir’s head a pet. “Good girl.” And then she giggled and left.

Ymir scowled at the door for a few minutes, never impressed when Krista made a joke like that – which she had started to do often – but sighed and went off to get dressed. If Krista wasn’t home to stare at her then she had no reason to strut her naked stuff.

After simply shoving some boxers on and a button-up white shirt Ymir settled down in the lounge on the couch with the TV on and the remote in her hand. If Krista was going to be a while, which she probably would be despite her promise, then Ymir would watch a movie or something to pass the time. Not much longer than a minute after finding a good enough movie there was a knock on the door.

For a second Ymir thought it was Krista but when she instinctively sniffed the air for her scent she came across a different, unfamiliar one. She stood up and warily made her way to the door. What if it was one of Krista’s friends?

But the scent was bothering her. Ymir didn’t know why yet, but her strange cynan instincts were telling her that this person was different and she needed to open the door. She did, and there was a blonde at the door. But of course, as she had expected, not the blonde she had wanted.

Before saying anything the visitor lifted her nose and sniffed the air. Something seemed to satisfy her, because then she stepped forward and offered her hand. “Ymir?”

Ymir narrowed her eyes suspiciously but wrapped her large hand around the other woman’s equally large one. “Yes.”

The blonde nodded and her serious expression didn’t falter. “It’s nice to meet a fellow cynan, since there aren’t that many in this town.”

Ymir lifted an eyebrow. “’Fellow’?”

They finally released the powerful handshake and the blonde stranger slipped her hands into the pockets of her black pants. Her long sleeved grey shirt – the sleeves pushed up to her elbows – was form fitting, easily showing off the defined lines of her abdomen and the bulge of her biceps. Though she had small breasts, short blonde hair parted in the middle and grey-blue eyes. Her expression was still calm and cool as Ymir took her appearance in. Another interesting thing to note was that she stood exactly as tall as Ymir. They were on equal footing in that respect, but Ymir could tell that this woman was a lot stronger than her at the moment.

“I’m Nanaba, a currently lone cynan. I’m a friend of Adrian’s and he sent me over here to talk to you about, well, our kind.”

“So that’s why you smelt different.”

Nanaba’s cool expression cracked as she lifted an eyebrow of her own. “You don’t know how to detect our kind yet?” When Ymir simply stared, she sighed. “It’s seems you’re less informed than I thought.”

A long silence prevailed after, Ymir contemplating slamming the door in Nanaba’s face, but luckily for the tall blonde her next words reeled Ymir in.

“I’m not that enthusiastic about being here either, but if you want to properly protect your mate then you’ll need to hear what I have to say.”

Ymir could practically smell the honesty, so she reluctantly moved to the side and ushered the blonde in. “You have 5 minutes to blow me away.”


	29. Chapter 29

Petra glanced at her watch in worry and started to tap her foot against the cement floor. It was a habit of hers to fidget whenever she was worried or particularly stressed. Right now she was because Krista was already well over 40 minutes late. It really wasn’t like the blonde to ever be late, so Petra had to continuously remind herself that she was overthinking it and that Krista had probably only forgotten.

She was also anxious and curious to know exactly what had happened between her cousin and that tall, dark and handsome brunette. When Petra had asked her during class either by whispering in her ear or slipping a note over to her desk, Krista had blushed bright red. Petra knew it would be something saucy, and she just couldn’t wait to hear the detailed explanation.

Petra glanced down at her watch again, noting that 5 minutes had passed. When she looked up, however, she noticed a familiar short blonde fast walking over to her table.

“Petra, I am so sorry!” Krista exclaimed breathlessly when she was close enough for her cousin to hear. “Ymir distracted me and the traffic was terrible.” Upon saying that Krista blushed again and Petra mused that it was probably due to the distraction part.

Petra stood to hug the smaller blonde and waved her hand in dismissal. “No need to freak out, I get it. You can make it up to me by explaining everything, though.” She winked as she and Krista sat down. “Oh and I ordered for you a little while ago but I think the coffee has gone cold already.”

Krista noticed the cup of coffee in front of her and sighed. “I’ll pay for it.”

Petra placed her elbows on the table and then leaned her chin against her hands. “Okay. I’ll accept it in the form of words.”

Krista glanced up at a smiling Petra and sighed again. “Okay, deal.” She decided to drink the coffee anyway though, cold or not. Running all the way over here after parking way too far away – it was strangely busy that night – had made her quite thirsty.

“So? Tell me what happened after you went back home.”

“You don’t waste any time, do you?” Krista asked after swallowing a few gulps. Surprisingly enough, the coffee still tasted great.

Petra shrugged but kept her eyes on Krista’s face, her own gaze excited and intense.

“Okay,” Krista placed the mug back onto the table and folded her hands together on her lap, “not too long after you found me all heartbroken Reiner came over to visit. Before that, though, Ymir had still been acting cold and distant though I did try my best to still be there for her. When Reiner visited, Ymir was suddenly all over me, in front of him.” Krista internally shivered, remembering that intense possessiveness of Ymir’s that she definitely found attractive.

“So wait, Reiner made Ymir all jealous so she finally stopped being stupid and confessed?”

Krista nodded and her eyes slightly widened. “How did you know?”

“Just a guess.” Petra took a sip of her third coffee of the night. “And then what happened?”

“Ymir remembered this shop she went to and we decided to go there to investigate her curse.”

“Wait, you’re still going on about that curse?”

Krista’s shoulders dropped and she sent an unimpressed look to Petra. “It’s not a curse.”

Petra nodded to herself. “Thought so.”

“Not a curse, but Ymir is a cynanthrope.”

Petra then began to choke on her coffee and sputtered. “What?”

Krista explained how it had all happened. How they had visited Adrian and what he had said, and then how she had convinced Ymir using the brunette’s anger and jealousy towards Reiner. She also explained why Ymir felt so intensely towards Reiner, and Petra had to admit that it kind of made a little sense. When Krista started to explain the whole Binding and soulmates thing, Petra had to stop her.

“Wait, wait, wait.” She waved both hands, head shaking too. “I’m with you on the strange wereperson stuff, but soulmates? Krista, you know that can’t be real.”

Krista sighed in exasperation. “Petra, you demanded that I tell you and then you don’t believe me when I do. What will it take to convince you?”

“For one thing I’d have to see it to believe it.”

“I don’t think Ymir would appreciate showing herself to you like some kind of circus act.” Petra was about to retort but then Krista interrupted. “But I’ll ask her.”

XxX

“So you say I can’t protect her as I am now?”

Nanaba regarded Ymir seriously for a long moment, analyzing her physical appearance and simply taking the time to feel her energy and remember her scent. After Ymir had let her in, to Nanaba’s relief, they had both taken a seat in the lounge. Ymir was currently leaning forward, arms resting on her legs as she narrowed her eyes at the tall blonde staring at her.

“Yes.” Nanaba finally answered. “Against a human? You could. But one of us or something stronger? No.”

“Something stronger?”

“Ymir, life isn’t as black and white as it seems.”

Ymir rolled her eyes and sat up. “That’s what the old man said too.”

“Adrian is right. I was surprised when he told me that you made a perfect connection. That doesn’t instantly put your mate in danger, of course, but there are a lot of our kind who will be enviously. We all deeply seek for that kind of connection and almost all of us fail. What’s worse is that if she happens to bump into a group of lycans and you aren’t able to protect her, you’ll both die.”

“Wait, what the hell do you mean by lycans?”

Nanaba released a breath and rubbed her hands together. “We cynans are only in the center of the species list. There are humans, us and then lycans. I’m pretty sure you know about werewolves. They’re real, and they hate us.”

Ymir stared at Nanaba blankly, desiring to laugh at her and point out how impossible that was, but then she reminded herself that she turned into a damn dog, so no, it wasn’t impossible. In fact, a deep part of Ymir growled in recognition, something inside of her knowing that word well.

“Why do they hate us?” Ymir asked.

“Throughout history lycans and cynans have always been at war, but that is for another time. We don’t have hours to sit here and talk. I’d like to get some sleep tonight. All I’ll say is that it was just another common struggle for power, still is.”

“Okay…” Ymir folded one leg over the other and slumped against the couch. “So what, how do I protect her?”

At this Nanaba smiled. “I can train you. Since you are still technically a pup, you’ll need guidance on how to control your cynan abilities and body. There are so many things you can do that you would probably never know about.”

“Like?”

“Like how you can enhance your human body; sharper teeth, sharper eyesight and hearing. It’s temporary of course unless you have a great amount of concentration and practice. What is easiest to enhance is your strength, but that can only be accomplished with training.”

“Why are you here helping me?” Ymir asked out of the blue, surprising Nanaba.

The taller blonde gave her a steady gaze and then she slightly tilted her head to the side. “Though Adrian did ask me, I accepted it because I know what it feels like. Unlike you I went through the change as a child. If it wasn’t for Adrian I would never have known what I was, or survived. As a species that has decreased greatly over the years we should stick together and help one another.”

Ymir scoffed. “So, what, you get some weird satisfaction out of helping me?”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Nanaba folded her arms over her chest and grinned broadly, “my services aren’t for free. But trust me when I say that letting me train you is the absolute smarted decision.”

“And what if I don’t want your services?” Ymir asked with a challenging smile. Nanaba responded to it and lifted an eyebrow. They were both grinning, practically smelling the competitiveness in the air.

For some strange reason Ymir decided that she liked Nanaba. Her gut told her to so she shrugged and followed. So far her gut hadn’t let her down. And she had to admit that the tall blonde was right. There was so little that she knew about herself and her kind, and she really did want to know. It felt frustrating not knowing where she came from and why she was what she was.

During their heated stare and challenging smirks, both Ymir and Nanaba had stood and were standing directly in front of each other, chests nearly touching. They continued to stare, daring the other to stand down. Without her control or consent Ymir felt her sharp canine teeth extend and greatly resisted the urge to release her tail and wag it. Similarly, Nanaba’s eyes darkened considerably and glowed bright and blue, her pupils dilating. When she opened her mouth Ymir noticed her teeth had changed too.

What was this sudden excitement growing in Ymir’s gut?

XxX

“So, besides the whole supernatural stuff, you managed to find a girlfriend and she’s practically living with you?” Petra asked to some up their conversation. She and Krista had been seriously discussing everything, Krista focusing more on the believable bits like the emotions and thoughts. It didn’t even take a minute for Petra to fully believe that her cousin was deeply, unconditionally and passionately in love. By the sound of it, Ymir was just as in love too. Even if she still couldn’t really believe the cynan tale, she could believe in the romance.

“Well… she still has her house. I should actually ask her about that.” Krista still wondered what Ymir planned on doing now. Since she had a grasp on transforming, would she return to her old life and move back into her house? The thought was depressing, but Krista made a mental note to talk to Ymir about it when she got home.

“I never thought that you would be the first one to fall in love.” Petra exclaimed with a pout. “I always thought I would be married by the time you stumbled upon someone.”

At that Krista pouted too. “Hey! I can handle myself, you know. But I guess you’re right. I never expected it either.” And then she smiled tenderly, Ymir’s face in her mind.

Petra noticed and then glanced down at her watch. “Well, we’ve been talking for a good 58 minutes. I think I’m good for tonight. Ymir is probably waiting for you.”

Krista nodded enthusiastically. “Is it okay if I leave now?”

Petra waved for their waiter. “Sure. Just leave me all on my own,” she said playfully with a pout and then she laughed when Krista’s face fell with guilt. “I’m just kidding! Get home to your woman, she’s waiting.”

Krista sighed deeply in relief and gave Petra a tight hug. “Thanks Petra. I enjoyed talking to you. Maybe next time Ymir will be with me and we can finally prove everything to you.”

Petra smiled. “Maybe. Bye, be safe!”

“I always am!”

XxX

By the time Krista returned home Ymir and Nanaba were still standing off, neither prepared to back off and yield to the other. But the moment the blonde had parked her car Nanaba’s head cocked to the side, listening to the sound. The tall blonde then took a step away, towards the door, and gingerly sniffed at the air.

Ymir narrowed her eyes. “What is it?” And then she smelt it too and her heart began to flutter. It was Krista’s scent, though Ymir had noticed it a few seconds later than Nanaba had.

Nanaba continued to stare steadily at the door, stance tall and rigid. When Krista eventually bounded up the porch steps and opened the door, she paused in the doorway and Nanaba furrowed her brows.

“Ymir,” she said and turned to send a questioning gaze at the brunette who was giving her an equally confused look, “I wasn’t told that your mate is a human.”

Ymir scoffed at that and pushed Nanaba to the side so that she could hurry over to Krista and envelope the blonde in a tight hug, slightly lifting her from the floor.

“I missed you.” Ymir breathed into her ear, making Krista shiver at the warmth.

When the blonde was finally placed back onto her feet she turned to close the door and then looked over to Nanaba in confusion. “Uh… who…?”

Nanaba then stepped forward, mindful of Ymir’s warning growl, and gracefully bowed her head. “It is an honor to meet you, Krista. My name is Nanaba.” The tall blonde lifted her head to give Krista a dazzling smile. “I was asked by Adrian to talk to Ymir about everything cynan related.”

Krista felt Ymir’s arms around her tighten, most probably in possessiveness, and simply rested her hands on top of Ymir’s. When the tall blonde had approached Ymir had stepped behind Krista but had wrapped her arms around her.

“Oh!” Krista’s eyes flashed in recognition and she reached out with a hand. “I remember asking him if he could ask anyone to come over to talk to Ymir.” Nanaba looked into Ymir’s eyes before she accepted the handshake, waiting for Ymir to give her permission – which she did with a steady nod – and then she engulfed Krista’s tiny hand in her own and applied gentle pressure as they shook. “I didn’t expect him to still do it though. It was only a plan B in case my first plan failed.”

Nanaba quickly released Krista hand and straightened. “I still need to teach you both about a lot of things. It will be an honour, if you’ll let me, to train your mate and get to know the both of you.” The tall blonde then glanced to the side with a slight blush and rubbed the back of her neck with a hand. “I’d like to be friends, too, since I really don’t have many. It’s difficult to find many cynans here or anywhere really.”

Krista’s eyes softened. “Of course! I’d love to be friends too! And I’m sure Ymir agrees.” The blonde tipped her head back to look into Ymir’s face. “Right?” she asked sternly.

Ymir looked away and grumbled under her breath. “Yeah. Why the hell not?” And then she turned her head and locked eyes with Nanaba’s that had yet to turn back to normal. “But you’ll have to get used to my difficult ass.” Krista agreed with a vigorous nod.

Nanaba laughed. “Sure.” She thrust an arm out, grinning.

Ymir instinctively gripped Nanaba’s arm as the blonde did to hers, not shaking hands like Krista had expected. They both melted into serious expressions, but Krista could feel Ymir’s amusement.

“I look forward to what you can teach me, Nanaba.” Ymir said steadily and tightened her grip.

Nanaba tightened hers too. “So do I, Ymir.”


	30. Chapter 30

“Ymir, come on. Get out of bed!” Krista yelled as loudly as she could and ripped the blanket off of the bed and her sleeping lover. Ymir simply continued to lie there, now curled in a ball with her head underneath her pillow. Krista snatched the pillow away and dropped it down onto the floor to join the blanket. “You are late for training,” Krista reminded. “Nanaba won’t be impressed.”

“Nng Nanaba can fuck off.” Ymir grumbled sleepily. Now she was flat on her stomach, her arms folded over her head to shield herself from Krista’s voice.

“Ymir!” Krista whined. She jumped onto the bed and crawled on top of Ymir. “Fine, if you want to be like that.” Before Ymir could react Krista started to tickle her sides.

Ymir jerked so violently that she flung them both off of the bed, the brunette landing on her back and Krista falling on top of her. Ymir didn’t react to the fall much. She merely groaned and then shut her eyes and started to snore again.

“Oh no you don’t!” Krista sat up, straddling Ymir’s abdomen. “Ymir if you don’t get up now you’ll sleep on the couch for a week!” There was a slight sigh from Ymir, but she still snored lightly, obviously not deeply asleep but more than likely trying to get there. Krista folded her arms across her chest. “And that means no showers together and no sex. For a whole week.”

Suddenly Ymir’s eyes shot open and she glared up at Krista through a sleepy haze. “You wouldn’t.”

Krista lifted an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

They stared off for a long moment and then Ymir cracked under Krista’s hard stare and she slowly pulled herself up. “Will you get off of me then?” she growled unpleasantly.

“Sure!” Krista quickly hopped off and then fixed the bed while Ymir dragged herself into the shower, cleaned herself up and then stumbled out. She looked a zombie with the way she dragged her feet and groaned every few minutes.

Ymir had never been like this, especially with all of the late nights she and Krista had done when they thought it was a curse. But now the brunette was always tired. It had been a month since they met Nanaba and Ymir had been training with her every single day, sometimes for most of the day and into the late night. Krista and Ymir hadn’t really been able to make love during the month either because of how exhausted Ymir was when Krista brought her home.

A few times halfway through Ymir had even fallen asleep. She found this more amusing than horrifying, though, but Krista was never impressed. Thankfully she completely understood her lover’s exhaustion, so she had simply pushed her onto her back and then snuggled against her to sleep.

It was now only 5 a.m. and Ymir had gone to sleep at around midnight. It was Saturday, too, but Nanaba was strict and refused any breaks. Her urging was that the sooner they got Ymir used to her cynan self the safer she and Krista would be. They both still didn’t really know why there was a sense of urgency, but Ymir could sense the importance and had been going along with Nanaba’s strict schedule. There were a few times when she was difficult, like now, but most of the time Ymir behaved herself.

“Uh, Ymir…?” Krista approached her sleep deprived love and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Huh? What” Ymir dropped her half lidded eyes to gaze questioningly at her blonde mate.

“Your shirt is inside out.” Krista pointed out lightly.

Ymir paused in pulling her shirt over her head, glanced at it and then sighed. “Oh.” She was about to pull it off but then Krista did it for her and put it on properly. Ymir was too tired to object and simply allowed the blonde to dress her.

“I think I’ll ask Nanaba if she can give you a break.” Krista announced, worry etched on her face. “I don’t like seeing you so out of it.”

Ymir shrugged. “There’s only a week left of this. She’s teaching me the basics which I should apparently already know, but I don’t, so she’s in a hurry to teach me.”

“But why the hurry? I don’t get it.”

“I do.” Ymir said. They were now headed towards the door, Ymir fully dressed and somewhat awake. “I mean, I don’t really know but I get it. There’s a reason, and if it’s to protect you then I definitely won’t complain.”

Krista blushed and smiled, deeply happy at how devoted Ymir had been to her. It was nice to know that someone was willing to work so hard just to protect her.

“Well if you trust her then I’ll trust you.” Krista slipped her hand into Ymir’s and gave it a soft caress with her thumb. She smiled up at Ymir and the brunette couldn’t help but smile back and then lean down to kiss her deeply before they got into the car.

XxX

“You’re late.” Nanaba pointed out, unimpressed – as Krista had predicted.

“Well done.” Ymir started clapping her hands, her eyes still half closed because she was both exhausted and bored.

So far they had mostly covered the whole awareness and visual thinking part of transforming. The easiest way to transform upon will was to visualize what you wanted and will it to happen. If Ymir wanted to extend her tail all she had to do was picture it in her mind and it would happen. That basic teaching had taken up at least two weeks, since Ymir struggled to find the right focus and concentration. Her mind had kept wondering to other things, mostly Krista. But Nanaba had given her a stern warning that Ymir needed to learn all of the basics very soon, so Ymir doubled her efforts and perfected the art of transforming. She surprised both Nanaba and Krista, but they both realized that she could accomplish anything if she truly put her mind to it.

The third week had consisted of senses training. Nanaba helped Ymir focus her hearing, touch, taste, sight and smell. She taught Ymir how to distinguish different scents. Obviously Ymir knew Krista’s better than anything and could pick it up at a great distance and in a huge crowd. What she needed to learn was the difference in scent between humans, cynans and lycans. There was a distinct difference and Ymir learned that quickly, though they did not have a lycan to ask for help so Nanaba decided she would inform Ymir about that once one was in the area – which was hopefully not anytime soon.

The fourth and second last week consisted of strength training. Nanaba had Ymir run laps until she ran out of energy, which took about 2 hours at the most. She then had Ymir lift many heavy objects, showing the brunette the extent of her added strength thanks to the change. Ymir could very easily lift a car and hardly feel any strain. Nanaba also gave her another strict warning to control her strength around Krista, which oddly enough – though it probably wasn’t odd at all – she had been unconsciously doing since the moment they had met. Ymir’s body just instinctively knew to handle Krista with the utmost care, even if Ymir herself wasn’t aware of it. At the end of the week Nanaba had informed Ymir that she knew almost all of the basics and had perfected them. They now only had one more thing to train on, and Nanaba had explained how important it was that Krista join them for the day’s training.

“Ymir, don’t be mean!” Krista chastised and looked up at Ymir with a pout.

“Thank you Krista.” Nanaba said and bowed her head in greeting, more than smart enough not to even attempt to hug Krista. Ymir did not know her that well, and Nanaba being a cynan too made the rivalry near dangerous. Even if Ymir logically knew that Nanaba meant no harm or anything suspicious, her body and emotions would still react harshly; at least until she became fully comfortable around Nanaba and accepted her.

“Whatever.” Ymir rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest. “So, what are we going to do today?”

Nanaba relaxed her pose and pointed at the floor of her living room where there were two pillows stationed close together. “Both of you take a seat there, facing each other,” the tall blonde commanded and then took a seat on the couch to their side.

“Before we begin I’ll need to explain. Adrian explained it all to me so I think I have a grasp on it, but I’ve never Bound myself to anyone and I don’t know how it feels.” She scooted forward and clasped her hands together. “What we will be doing today is testing your connection. Ymir, you can easily hear Krista’s thoughts if she wanted you to.”

Ymir’s eyes widened. “Seriously? I thought it was only one way.”

Nanaba shook her head. “It’s a two way connection. On top of feeling each other’s emotions you can hear each other’s thoughts. If you don’t practice on how to use it then when you really need to it will be too late.”

Krista turned to Nanaba. “What do you mean?”

Nanaba released a breath. “There might come a time when you are separated from your mate and she cannot protect you. If that does happen then you can easily call out for her with your mind and she’ll immediately know if you are in trouble. You can also project images to each other.”

At that last bit of information Ymir’s expression changed. Krista felt the shift in emotion and turned suspicious eyes to her lover. “Ymir… I know that look.”

Ymir gave her an innocent look, masking her previous expression. “What look?”

“That look like you’re thinking about something dirty.”

Ymir scoffed and then she closed her eyes and assumed a concentrated pose. After a few seconds her eyebrows pulled together in strain and then Krista suddenly covered her face with her hands and squeaked.

“Ymir!” Krista whined, thoroughly embarrassed.

Ymir laughed. “It works!” She opened her eyes and smirked over to Nanaba.

The tall blonde narrowed her eyes. “Ymir, what did you do?”

“I sent an image in my head to Krista.”

“Of?”

Ymir’s smirk turned rakish. “Of how I’m going to ravish her later tonight.”

Nanaba sighed deeply and covered her face too. “Well at least you understand the concept. Can you do it again?” Krista’s head shot up, alarm written on her face. “I don’t mean anything sexual!” Nanaba exclaimed, waving her hands in panic. “Can you just send her another image, Ymir? But something clean this time.”

Ymir shrugged. “Sure.” And then she concentrated again, brows pulled together and lips pressed into a firm line. While she concentrated Krista watched her face with a new and fresh blush. She couldn’t deny how attractive Ymir looked being all serious.

Suddenly an image popped into Krista’s head. It was of herself sleeping, with a familiar hand caressing her cheek. As fast as it had appeared it vanished and when Krista looked at Ymir with wide eyes she saw her lover blushing.

“So?” Nanaba enquired, watching their expressions and body language closely.

“It worked.” Krista breathed softly. She then crawled over to Ymir and held her face, turning it to look into her eyes. “Do you do that often?”

Ymir looked into her eyes but shrugged. “I guess, sometimes.”

Krista smiled. “You are so sweet.” And then she leaned forward and captured Ymir’s lips for a passionate kiss. The couple didn’t notice Nanaba glance away and sigh in exasperation.

“Maybe I’ve been working them too hard.” Nanaba mused to herself, but then a familiar feeling made her stomach tighten and she swallowed. She did not know what was making her feel that way, but she knew that turmoil always followed.

It took a while for Ymir and Krista to finally hear Nanaba clear her throat, and by then both of them were flushed and breathing heavily. Krista suddenly remembered their audience and blushed even deeper in embarrassment.

“I’m sorry,” she said to Nanaba once she returned to her earlier seat.

The tall blonde waved her hand. “Nah, I understand. Just save that for when we aren’t training.”

“Right!” Krista gripped the fabric of her pants with her closed fists and forced her blush away.

“Okay, let’s practice the image transfer for the next hour, since that’s the first thing Ymir grasped.”

The couple nodded, and then the training began. Nearly an hour later Krista reached her limit and slumped forward. She eventually just collapsed onto Ymir’s lap and rested there, eyes closed and temples throbbing.

“I can’t go anymore. I’m sorry.” Krista said, breathless despite not actually doing any physical work.

Ymir allowed a smirk that she still felt fine even though Krista was exhausted, but then her concern washed over her and she pulled Krista into her arms. “We’re taking a break for now.” Ymir announced and cradled the whimpering blonde against her chest.

Nanaba smiled at the affection and nodded. “Of course. I’m surprised that she could last that long, for a human.”

Ymir glanced over at her with a lifted brow. “Being a human does not decrease her worth,” she all but growled.

“Of course! I meant strength wise. Humans lack the intense concentration our kind requires. I didn’t mean it offensively.”

Ymir relaxed and glanced down at Krista. “Oh.”

“So when you’re done resting up we’ll cover the message part.”

“Message?”

“Yeah, it’s like sending an SMS to her with your mind. Plus it’s free.”

Nanaba grinned and Ymir chuckled. “What will we learn after that?”

“The last bit to learn is the conveying of emotion. I’m sure you’ve felt it over the course of this month but you’ll need to learn how to send emotions to each other as messages too. By the end of the week, though, I’ll need you to be able to send an image with a worded message and an emotion or two attached.”

Ymir rested down on her back and pulled one of the pillows under her head. “We sound like emails or something.”

Nanaba grinned. “True, I guess.”

They fell into silence. While they rested the taller blonde excused herself to place a call to Adrian. She reported back to him about the couple’s progress and accepted his suggestions with enthusiasm. She also made sure to trade idle chat so that she could give Krista enough time to rest. When the call was done and she returned, she had been gone for well over an hour.

“Okay. Rest is over!” She clapped her hands together and sat down on the couch once more.

Ymir and Krista were seated where they should be, but Krista was looking mighty flushed and Ymir had the most satisfied smirk on her face. Nanaba decided not to comment on that, mainly because she didn’t want to embarrass Krista if she was right, and instead carried on with furthering their training.

They practiced for well over two hours this time, Krista determined to go for as long as possible. Ymir encouraged her along the way, greatly helping Krista remain focused. When the blonde eventually reached her limit once more, Nanaba decided that they were done training for the day.

“We’ve been at it for 3 hours. I think we’ll give it a rest and continue tomorrow.”

Ymir stretched her arms and spine and flopped down onto her back. “Fucking finally!”

Krista giggled at her exclamation and stretched her body too. It ached after sitting hunched up for so long. Before she could turn to Nanaba and start conversation her phone rang and she hurried to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Yo, Krista!”

“Eren?”

The boy on the other end of the call grinned. “Yeah! Where have you been, huh? Abducted by giants or something?”

Krista giggled. “No, I’ve just been busy. How is Mikasa?”

“Oh she’s great, Sasha too. Actually I called to ask if you’d like to join us today. The others told me not to bother you but we really haven’t seen you much these past few months.”

Krista’s smile faded into a frown and she felt slight guilt. “I’m really sorry about that. I haven’t forgotten about all of you, I promise.”

Eren laughed. “Nah, we know! But we miss you. So, what do you say? We’re eating out at Sasha’s favourite restaurant at 2 this afternoon.”

Krista considered it for a moment, well aware that Nanaba and Ymir could both clearly hear the conversation from both ends. Ymir watched her with a lifted brow and Nanaba tried to act like she wasn’t eavesdropping. “Sure!” she finally answered with a smile. “But is it okay if I bring someone with?”

Eren had seemed ready to yell something in excitement, but he had to pause and release the heavy breath he had sucked in. “Uh… sure! Who is it?”

Krista smiled. “I’ll introduce everyone when we get there. Will you let the others know?”

On his end Eren grinned. “Of course! See you later, Krista. Stay safe until then!”

“You too Eren. Bye.”

“Bye!” And then he hung up.

“We’re going out then?” Ymir piped up, not sounding displeased but not sounding all that pleased either.

Krista crawled over to her and gave her that sweet smile that Ymir could never resist. “Please, Ymir? I’m sorry that I didn’t ask you first, but I’ve hardly spent time with my friends and I’d like to introduce you to them.”

Ymir sat up and ran a hand through her hair. “Haven’t you already done that?”

Krista shook her head. “I want to introduce you as the person I’m in love with.” And then she just had to gently caress Ymir’s freckles, effectively melting the brunette’s heart. Krista felt the answer before Ymir even said it.

“Fine, I guess.” Ymir responded, looking away to hide her blush. “What the fuck are you grinning at Nanaba?” Ymir growled at her mentor.

“Nothing.” Nanaba shrugged and rested back against the couch. “I just think you’re both adorable.” Her grin widened and she didn’t flinch under Ymir’s glare.

“Whatever.” Ymir started to pout but Krista was quick to kiss it away.

“We’ll have fun, don’t worry!” And she grinned again, absolutely captivating Ymir’s heart. With that smile, Ymir would do anything for her.

XxX

Now at home, Krista moaned softly as Ymir nibbled along the side of her neck, occasionally biting hard but not enough to pierce the skin. Nanaba had explained that the bite was absolutely important to complete the Binding, but that it wasn’t required more than once. Ymir enjoyed doing it anyway, though, since it felt like she was simply re-claiming what was hers. And if Krista didn’t mind…

They still had an hour left before they were expected to show up at the restaurant, so the couple had decided to relax on the couch together and watch a movie. As much as Ymir wanted to rip their clothes off instead of sit on the couch, cuddling was just too wonderful to stop. Also, since Krista was leaning against her chest, she had easy access to the blonde’s neck and was taking complete advantage of that.

Krista moaned again and reached back to tangle her hand in Ymir’s brown hair. “Ymir, if you do that…”

“If I do what?” Ymir purred sexily against her skin. “This?” And then she trailed a hand over the blonde’s collar bone and gently licked along her neck.

“Yesss.” Krista squirmed, absolutely on fire. “But we don’t have time.” Krista groaned, wishing that they did. She suddenly regretted not getting Ymir naked the moment they stepped through the door. It really was intense, the way they needed such intimate contact. Since they hadn’t made love all that often, Krista’s body reacted more than it usually would. It suddenly became a need, not merely a want.

Krista quickly turned around and captured Ymir’s lips in her own. Her tongue immediately sought Ymir’s out and then Krista tugged at her shirt and started undoing the buttons. While she did that Ymir wasted no time for surprise and quickly undid the clasp to Krista’s bra. They broke the kiss to quickly rip the clothes off of their torsos and then glued their lips back together and pressed their naked chests against each other, loving the feel and moaning softly into the other’s mouth.

Ymir slid her hands down Krista’s sides and went straight for her pants but was stopped when Krista grabbed her hands and moved them away. The brunette was about to grumble but then Krista hurriedly undid the button on her pants, unzipped it and then slipped a small hand inside of her pants and underwear.

Ymir shuddered violently and faltered in the kiss as Krista made her hotter and made her want to squirm. For once Krista was the dominating one and Ymir didn’t mind at all. She merely kissed Krista with flourish and moaned hotly as Krista finally entered her and used every ounce of strength she had to pleasure her taller lover.

As they connected physically, so did their hearts and souls. It suddenly became one pleasure that they were feeling, one body that was being touched, and one heart that was pounding. Krista could feel Ymir’s fluttering heartbeat against her fingertips and immediately felt the exact rhythm beating in her chest. They breathed in sync, gasping for air together. When Ymir couldn’t find the concentration to continue with the kiss she released Krista’s lips and rested her head against the blonde’s shoulder, both hands gripping Krista’s hips.

She started to growl deeply in her chest, the fiery pleasure burning down to her toes, hastily building and approaching that one moment when they absolutely connected and became one.

“K-Krista, I think I’m gonna…” A second later Ymir and Krista both felt the orgasm rush over them and sear down their bodies. Ymir whimpered like a puppy and shivered against Krista’s body, uncaring that she was vulnerable and open to another person. If it was Krista, she didn’t mind.

When she was able to, Krista relaxed her tense body and pulled her hand out of Ymir’s pants. She then collapsed against Ymir, just as exhausted as her, and the brunette fell back down onto the couch. Ymir covered her face with a hand, panting.

They never needed to reciprocate the love making for both of them to feel satisfied. Due to the connection they both felt every touch and every sensation.

Ymir glanced up at the clock and noted the time. “We should shower quickly,” she suggested. “I’m all sweaty now.”

Krista nodded in agreement. “You’re right. We just have enough time to shower and dress. Just no touching or we’ll definitely be late!” Krista lifted herself from Ymir’s warm, damp skin and then she got onto her feet, already missing the contact.

“After the best 20 minutes of my life? I think I’ll be good for the next week.” Ymir allowed Krista to pull her up and then she retrieved their clothes from the floor.

“You say that now, Ymir, but then we’ll get back later and you’ll be ripping my clothes off like a rabid dog.”

Ymir had to agree, though sheepishly. “So? I’m addicted to you.”

Krista paused in the hallway to turn and lean up to sensually kiss Ymir’s lips. “I’ll be your fix for as long as you want me.” Her hot breath washed over Ymir’s lips, and then the blonde turned and sauntered into their bedroom.

Ymir watched her go, enjoying the sexy sway of her hips, and then she shook herself out of the trance and hurried after her. They were probably going to be late.

XxX

As it turned out, they weren’t all that late. But everyone had already arrived by the time Ymir and Krista walked into the restaurant.  They were clean and showered, well sated and relaxed.

“Wait, do I look alright?” Ymir tugged on Krista’s shirt to stop her and pointed at her clothes.

Krista ran her eyes over Ymir’s long form, appreciating the way her torn grey jeans and button up black shirt, sleeves folded up to her elbows, fit snugly to her body. While staring Krista nearly began to drool. Of course Ymir noticed this. She chuckled and smirked and then flicked Krista’s forehead to wake her up.

“Ow!” Krista exclaimed, rubbing at the spot.

“You just gave me sex eyes. I’ll take that as a yes. You look beautiful too.” Ymir pointed at Krista, referring to her blue dress.

Krista blushed. “Thank you. Now can we join my friends?” Krista extended her hand.

“Sure.” Ymir took the offered hand, intertwined their fingers and then shoved her free hand into her pocket. She allowed Krista to pull her over to the table with the blonde’s friends and resisted the urge to growl when many pairs of eyes turned to Krista.

“Krista!” Sasha exclaimed, overjoyed. She shot up from her seat and bounded over to the blonde. As they hugged Ymir refused to let Krista’s hand go, making the hug a bit awkward. Most at the table, Mikasa, Eren, Annie, Armin, Berthold, Petra and then Sasha, noticed Ymir with surprise. When Sasha finally let Krista go and returned to her seat by Mikasa, everyone noticed the couple holding hands. The only ones that did not look surprised at that were Berthold and Petra.

“Hi everyone.” Krista greeted with a smile. She tugged at Ymir’s hand to get the brunette to step up beside her and lifted their hands for everyone to see. “I’d like to introduce her again.” Ymir stood tall, her head high, but inside she was uncomfortable. “This is Ymir, my… uh…” Krista caught herself, nearly saying ‘soulmate’ or ‘mate. “Girlfriend.”

Everyone’s eyes widened and the table remained silent.

“Ymir?” Krista gently poked her side and waited until those passionate, sexy eyes turned and looked down at her. “Say hi?”

Ymir’s jaw clenched but she nodded and turned to the astonished people – minus Berthold and Petra – gawking at them. “Uh, hi.”

Krista sighed. “You don’t have to be so awkward you know.”

Ymir turned to Krista with a frown. “How would you feel in my situation?” she retorted.

“Well I would be more enthusiastic!”

Ymir grumbled under her breath. “Yeah, well, I don’t care about anyone other than you.” And then she shifted her feet and sighed. “It’s also difficult when I feel like everyone will either attack you or steal you.” The last part she said softly.

Krista’s face immediately softened and then she pulled Ymir’s face down to her own, giving Ymir a soft kiss and then released her hold. “Better?”

Ymir smiled and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but do you realize you just kissed me in front of your friends?”

Krista suddenly gasped and realized that Ymir was right. Her face turned bright red. While the blonde gaped in embarrassment Ymir pulled her along and sat her down, taking her own seat next to her. It seemed like no one was going to comment until someone finally did, breaking the awkward silence.

“Hi, Ymir. Krista explained everything to me, so congratulations.” Petra said with a smile and offered her hand.

Ymir took it and when her hand wrapped around Petra’s and their eyes locked, Ymir’s iris flashed golden for a second. When Petra wrenched her hand away and gasped softly, Ymir resisted the urge to laugh.

“Hi Ymir!” The tallest one there, Berthold, shook Ymir’s hand too and offered a bright smile. “I’m happy that Krista found someone to make her happy.”

Ymir nodded. “Thanks.”

The others awkwardly congratulated them as well, though Eren didn’t say a word until all eyes were on him, waiting for him to either congratulate them or go on an angry rampage. “I won’t accept it.” He announced, arms folded over his chest. “Not until I know that Krista is safe for sure.”

Ymir released Krista’s hand and leaned forward, arms on the table. She tilted her head slightly, eyes boring intensely into Eren’s uneasy gaze. She looked absolutely unimpressed, though she managed to control her expression enough not to let them see how furious she was too. Krista could feel it though, and she could hear the start of a warning growl emanating from Ymir’s chest.

“Eren, right?” Ymir asked tightly. Eren nodded, swallowing hard. That gaze was so strong that even he felt intimidated by it. “I can _assure_ you that Krista is more than just _safe_ with _me._ ” The words with emphasis were nearly growled. Krista quickly scooted up closer to Ymir and placed a comforting hand on her back, silently pleading for her to calm down and not freak everyone out by changing or something.

Eren swallowed and nodded. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have been so hostile. Congratulations.”

Ymir smirked. “Thank you.” She leaned back in the chair and intertwined her fingers with Krista’s once more.

Conversation started then, most of it centering on Ymir and Krista having to answer questions about how they met and other important stuff. It was only Petra who really saw the secret glances they gave each other and the veiled answers. They all ordered at some stage and sooner than expected the food arrived.

Everyone seemed eager to get to know Ymir, thankfully not being as hostile as before, and it made Krista warm inside. She could see that Ymir wasn’t having the time of her life, but she was trying and that made her chest heat even more. They made sure to either hold hands or lean against each other, feeling comfort in the other. Especially Ymir. When she felt bored or exasperated, especially when Eren started yelling, she simply leaned against Krista and gave her forehead a tender kiss.

Petra noticed it from the corner of her eye and couldn’t help but smile. After that weird moment where Ymir’s eyes had changed, Petra had started to wonder about the whole cynan tale Krista had told her. She seriously wondered if it was true all along, and hoped that Krista would ask Ymir to at least show her, if that earlier display hadn’t been Ymir doing it already.

She had to sigh too, envious of her cousin for being so obviously in love, though she was happy. She just also really wanted someone to cling onto like that, someone to share intimate glances and smiles with, someone to kiss tenderly, and someone to love. Before those thoughts could depress her, Petra involved herself in Armin and Sasha’s heavy debate on the properties of food.

Maybe one day she would find her Prince Charming, just like Krista had.

XxX

It was well into the evening when Ymir and Krista finally bid everyone goodbye and left the restaurant. They had spent a surprisingly long time there, but Ymir mused that it wasn’t too bad, and Krista was beyond overjoyed that her friends had accepted her soulmate. Berthold had seemed the happiest, though Krista hadn’t really noticed but Ymir had a suspicion of why when the tallest brunette had gushed about Reiner.

Strangely, hearing that guy’s name didn’t evoke intense anger anymore. She still did not like the name or the person it belonged to, but she felt so much a part of Krista that it was no longer that much of a threat. There was still the urge to rip his throat out, though, but Ymir felt that way with every man or woman that glanced at her small, blonde lover. Was it the cynan thing, or was Ymir just insanely possessive?

“Ymiiir, that was so fun!” Krista exclaimed and wrapped her arms around one of Ymir’s.

Ymir had to smile. “Yeah, it kind of was.” They hadn’t been walking all that long and since the car was parked quite far down the road they would need to walk for another 5 minutes to reach it.

“Oh!” Krista suddenly remembered something and tugged Ymir to a halt. “Ymir, I’ve been meaning to ask you about something. What will you do now that you can stay human again? I know you have a house and a job…”

Ymir snorted. “No I don’t.” And then she caught herself and froze.

Krista startled and looked up at her with shock. “What?!”

“I… uh… shit.” Ymir rubbed the back of her neck, kicking herself for speaking before thinking. “I was going to mention it to you sometime, honest. I just never got around to it.”

“Ymir, what is it?”

Ymir sighed. “I was fired a long time ago Krista. I went to my boss like a month ago and he informed me that because I didn’t show up for months he fired me and hired someone else. Apparently everyone thought I was dead.” She shrugged her shoulders.

“And your house?” Krista grabbed Ymir’s hand and pressed it to her chest. The brunette could feel the blonde’s thundering heartbeat.

Ymir was reluctant to answer, but she knew that she had to or Krista would be mighty upset and she definitely wanted to ravish Krista when they got home.

“Actually, I sold my house a while ago. I was going to tell you about that too…”

“Ymir!” Krista looked mortified. “What are you going to do?” She started to panic, feeling guilty that somehow she was the cause of this.

“I just figured I would live with you. I mean, I already occupy half of your cupboard and your room is really our room now. I can always find a new job.” Ymir shrugged, acting like it was something mundane. She couldn’t hide how she was feeling though, and Krista could feel the wave of anxiety and fear from her.

“Oh Ymir, of course! I’ve been dreading the day you would move back to your house, I just never got around to mentioning it either. I would really love it if you stayed with me, in _our_ home.”

At that Ymir’s heart skipped a beat. “I like the sound of that.” She pulled Krista to her and enveloped her in a tight, loving hug. “I love you, squirt.”

Krista giggled against her shoulder. “I love you too.”

They embraced for a moment more, and then Ymir released her and took Krista’s hand. They both smiled happily and continued walking down the sidewalk to the car. Everything felt absolutely perfect, and all that was left was for Ymir to complete her training with Nanaba. Or at least get a hang of all of the basics. And hopefully it wouldn’t take too long, and Ymir could feel confident in her ability to protect her soulmate and best friend.

XxX

On the street not too far away from Ymir and Krista, a person with short white hair paused and glanced back at them. She allowed a smirk and then returned to facing forward. When she started walking again another white haired person approached and fell into step beside her, though the second person was shorter.

“I have scouted the area out,” the second person reported, and then he bowed his head respectfully when dark scarlet eyes fell on him.

“How many?”

“There is a total of 5 lycans and 7 cynans in the area.”

“Ah,” the one with scarlet eyes tilted her head up and grinned in satisfaction, “this is a good town then. How many packs?”

The second white haired of the two finally lifted his head. “So far I have only sensed two lone packs. The town is not protected or claimed.”

The taller of the two laughed sadistically. “Wonderful. All we have to do is get rid of the cynans and form an alliance with the lycans, if not then we dispose of them too. Where are the others?”

As that was said a group of tall, dark and dangerous women stepped out into the sunlight. “We’re right here,” one of them announced.

The leader grinned and her sharp teeth extended, eyes glinting bright with bloodlust. “This is going to be fun.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued in Bad Dog II


End file.
